Video

The hardest part is finding the right level of hormones. After 7 months of HRT I still have major problems

I have the brca2 gene i went thru all the ultra. Sounds to dectect ovarian cancer and could never find the left overy so I had them out at age 49. Have been menopausal since . Im 65 now and the drs wont give me anything. Because of the risk. I have been watching videos on hrt and would like to do it but to get onto a menopaose dr In Seattle the wait is about 6mo to a year. Im tired of suffering espically the body pain what can i do

Conflict of interest

Great video. Clear and concise.

Micronized progesterone caused me to be anxious with nocturnal, unprovoked panic attacks. I felt HORRIBLE. I have a history of blood clots and a sister with a history of an estrogen positive breast cancer so estradiol is off the table for me. I’m so frustrated and scared of what’s to come in the years through menopause

I’m 64 and went back on hrt at 63 after stopping it at 57 because I was told I had to. I was miserable and lost 6 years of my life because of misinformation. I’m on estradiol transdermal and oral micronized progesterone. The depression lifted almost immediately and my libido came back. Also take vaginal estrogen to help with atrophy and bladder leakage. Still working on my sleep but the changes are nothing short of amazing! Don’t give up!

Progesterone equals copper dumping for me. I need low dose iodine, bio available zinc from lean meats including beef, soluble fiber psyllium husk and beans and lentils. Docs saying only estradiol matters after a hysterectomy means it’s grown back twice and my copper built up and a struggling thyroid.

You explained this very good .. Now I know why I been struggling for the past few years.. I cant swallow pills is there any options for people who can't swallow pills? And what about if I couldn't take birth controls cause they all made me not feel well evwn the lower dose ones.. Will I be able to take HRT?

I have been on Mirena for 15 months for HRT. Does Mirena IUD cause abnormal TSH? I have NEVER had high TSH level but 4 months after I started Mirena, my TSH got high.

It's brutal to live with night sweats, no solid sleep. Im 13 years past menopause and still suffering. If men suffered so, science would have found a solution just like they created viagra as a result of the loss of testosterone in men.

Interesting. Would be interesting if you went all plant based.

I have been talking levoxitral for years 75mg now it is making me have high blood pressure and pulse

My new doctor ordered blood tests from a place called Boston Heart Diagnostics. They broke down my lipids into all the different particles and color coded the results (green, yellow, red) so the dangerous numbers can be seen at a glance. My ApoB was very high. Bottom line it said that I produce cholesterol normally, but am bad at absorbing it. So I am trying a plant-based diet for the next 6 months --- no meat, no dairy, no eggs. I am about 7 weeks into it and it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be, although I do miss CHEESE (for my birthday I am planning to pig out on cheetos and root beer instead of cake and ice cream). I hope this works because I do not want to take statins.

Very interesting! I also did dietary experiment: I eliminated coconut oil and dairy fat, and added psyllium husk. As a result, I cut my LDL in half after 6 months. My APOB did not change. Why?!

So much conflicting advice in these messages….making me dizzy

His apoB went from outrageous to high. Great that he could do this with diet, but he needs to get it to at least below 80 which is unlikely on diet alone.

I am currently on the combi patch. I have been in for one month and still can’t sleep. I sleep 3-4 hours nightly. I wake up at 3 or 4 and that’s after staying up till 12:30-1 just to get sleepy. I have been dealing with this for about 6 years.

my worst symptom ever of having too high of estradiol was a period that started super late (day 37, I normally start around day 28) with extreme PMS worst I've ever had in my life, and a very long drawn out period with a week of light or spotting, a week of extremely heavy with one day of flooding which was scary, and another week of just spotting, worst experience of my life, had a bunch of tests done to rule out anything abnormal, and even thought my doctor didn't check my hormone levels, I think here in France they think it's pointless if you aren't fully in menopause, he only went off of my age, how my organs looked, and that there was nothing abnormal on the tests, I was started right away on an extremely low dose of dienogest, 2mg (it's an extremely common progestin here in Europe, yes, it's synthetic, but I've read that it can mimic certain things of bioidentical progesterone), was given tranexamic acid for a week to slow down the bleeding, then a single injection of decapeptyl, a GnRH agonist, to cause temporary menopause for about 2-3 months to see if it would help. I have to admit all those drugs in the first month of treatment was absolute hellish, it wasn't bad enough to go back into the doctor or to the ER since the side effects were within normal range, but I only had a week off from bleeding before a long drawn out period started again because the decapeptyl stimulated my ovaries first before shutting down and it was like my symptoms were almost worst before it got better.

I’ve viewed hormone “specialist” MDs and neuroscientists online who repeat that progesterone is “not needed if the uterus has been removed.” Could you please address and detail this issue since you have stated that progesterone IS needed, even without one having a uterus. I think some opinions, even MDs, are based on seeing a woman as an assemblage of reproductive organs, not as a whole, independent person. Surely the brain is affected by this hormone as it is by estradiol, testosterone and the others? Kindly advise. Thanks for all you do Steve, much appreciated.

No way will I ever take hormones

My doctor told me the body makes no mistakes and no one knows enough about how to properly dose and the method of introduction to do hrt effectively and safely. I’m so sleep deprived I can’t even make sense 😭

I was told optimal ferritin is 80-100 for us to feel our best. Last year mine was 65 and not it’s 31. I feel this is an overlooked issue by many doctors. Ferritin is our storage for our iron. We need adequate storage

Thank you so much! We women should initiate a class action lawsuit for negligence and discrimination against medical providers and the FDA!

Do you know of someone in my area that could help me? I I live in central Louisiana

I am so fortunate to have a gynecologist that has no qualms about prescribing HRT. ( she is a pcp and post menopausal specialist as well)I use a compounding cream of estrogen and testosterone. I have an IUD in place so as not to have “unopposed” estrogen. I don’t take progesterone so this way, with the IUD, the lining of the uterus won’t overgrow and increase the risk of cancer. I feel pretty good most days and have no osteoporosis. My risk is so low it is at 0.5% So ladies don’t be afraid to try things and hopefully you can find someone to help you. I just don’t understand why Drs. are so afraid. I sign an informed consent, that’s all they would need since they are afraid to be held libel.

A little freaked out right now. Everything was good except for : LDL (always been high most of my adult life) and ApoB : 161 . This is my first time getting this test. I ordered it for myself cus I’ve been hearing a lot about it. The high # is very unexpected. Glu 91, insulin 7.4, Trig 85 HDL 91. I eat no sugar, low grains, no processed foods, high veg fruit, and high meat/dairy /fats in the last 3 years. Exercise 3-4 x week. I am going to immediately reduce the meats/ sat fats/dairy. I hope I can reduce it like you!

Is it possible to schedule a phone consultation with you?

Thank you for your educational videos, much appreciated! The link in description to hormone optimization providers doesn't work. Could you publish correct one? TIA!

There is only one diet that has been proven to prevent and reverse heart disease. It can be found in the book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. Heart disease is a paper tiger that need never exist.

It sucks for me because taking the estradiol patches helps with my joint pain which is debilitating but it also gives me really painful acne 😭 it's one thing or another

I’m 65. I started HRT less than a month ago and it’s a freaking miracle. I’m very happy, yet I lost 25 years post menopause when I could have had a far better quality of life. I was offered statins, Xanax, anti depressants, pain meds, etc etc…but NEVER HRT!

Thanks for another good video. I am a perimenopausal someone who needs progesterone (per DUTCH), but seem to have progesterone intolerance, as I have chronic fatigue for the last 5 years, and progesterone makes my fatigue so, so, so much worse, to where I can't get through my work days when I take it (whether cream/topical/intravaginal/oral/SR/IR/morning/evening). It's frustrating.

I had complete hysterectomy at age 33. I’m now 67. They put me on estrogen pills right away and when I hit 50’s doctors told me I needed to get off. But I wouldn’t. I was taking 1/2 of 1 mg daily. I suffered from UTI’s since age 16. So a doctor switched me to compounded estrogen cream vaginally twice a week 2 yrs ago. That stopped the UTI’s Then I learned of Dr John Lees books on menopause, progesterone, so now at 67 I have added compounded progesterone cream rubbed under arms. My hormone saliva test showed very low progesterone & testosterone, but estrogen was in the middle of where it should be. I was told I was estrogen dominant, cause of my round apple belly. So needed progesterone to balance it all out. So we shall see what happens. I still use estrogen cream vaginally once a week

Was so confused when I saw menopause and sleep but it was a man😂, so of course I had to click on

I take estradiol and prometrium 100mg but took a test and my estradiol level high and progesterone low inspite of taking hormones. I was having breakthrough mucus that look like blood shed. Can you tell me what that could be. I’m still struggling with anxiety and insomnia. I wake up early every day still. I thought the hormones would help with sleep. Any suggestions?

I just saw this video . I just stopped HRT I was on the patch (half) and 100mg of progesterone every other to start. And I felt so awful. I had headaches and dizziness the worst stomach pain and acid reflux . I felt groggy and thought I was losing my mind. Anxiety was worse and so depressed. I did better with out it. I stopped it and I’m slowly getting back to normal. It really scared me. I think will not continue with hrt which makes me sad.

Thanks for addressing this … can u do a video on how to figure out what level of hormones to take … any side effects we should notice in the first few weeks / months . Thanks

Yep. The sleep issue is HUGE. Perhaps the most dangerous and destructive overall. I sometimes wouldn’t sleep at all. Zip. Or just 2-3 hours. Rarely, once or twice a year, would sleep 6-7 hours. After starting progesterone I sleep 7 hours.

Progesterone is the hormone of PMS so therefore anxiety, depression, bloating, & all other mood swings that are symptoms of PMS are not progesterone intolerance they are the result of progesterone replacement.

In one year, using not drugs my apoB dropped under keto from 101 to 78 under carnivore a year later. I'll take that.

thank you for such informative info i finally found a provider to prescribe me progesterone estradiol and soon testosterone im in post menopause havent got a good night sleep inthe last 4 years!! almost went insane! im already sleeping better since the first week of using 100 mg of prometrium!❤ thank God for this medication i feel optimistic now about getting my okd self back❤

I think I had PMDD and I do have progesterone intolerance. I didn't know that word PMDD at that time. It lasted till I was pregnant at 35 and then after my son's birth, I felt into pre-menopause with cycles shorten by 4 days and no more pain during my cycle.

Thank you Steve for another informative video! I’d like to share a very recent and interesting discovery about oral Progesterone because this isn’t talked about much. I found that “slow” release compounded oral progesterone helps me sleep compared to a “fast” release formula like Prometrium. I’ve worked up to 100 mg at bedtime and 100 mg when I wake up at 1-2am. I am now getting a total of 6 hours deep quality sleep rather than that typical 2-3 hours of stressful sleep. Since I’ve only been doing a higher progesterone protocol (using 2 different delivery methods) for a couple of weeks, I’m hoping in time my total sleep time will improve even more as the progesterone continues its calming effect. And here I thought I had an intolerance to oral progesterone because when I started bHRT a year ago, it would intensify my anxiety especially in the middle of the night. It was a very scary experience. Hoping my discovery can help others too.

CAC's do NOT tell the entire story. The plaque shown is on the OUTSIDE of the arteries in a CAC test.....not necessarily what's on the inside diameters where the blood flows. My score was a whopping 2000 yet my heart cath showed that I only have 20-30% narrowing in certain places. No stents or other action was needed. (65 years old) A heart cath is the only way you really know what's going on with your heart arteries, period. By the way, my cholesterol numbers have been completely normal forever.

I’ve just done a full cycle of bio identical progesterone 200mg, suffering with the worst anxiety, panic attacks, and burning skin in the morning 😣 had the same reaction to non bio identical and most birth controls. Help! What do I do here?

I am on menopausal hrt and wen I take micronized progesterone100 mg at night I loose my sleep Can u suggest me a solution

And my sleep has been terrible for a long time like the lady you mentioned in your video. I routinely don’t get much sleep at all & it is majorly effecting my life!!

I am 56 years old & am unfortunately one of the unlucky women who’s progesterone intolerant. I wish so badly that I could take it & reap the sleep benefits, etc. but unfortunately I haven’t been able to

My nurse practitioner will only give me 100 mg of progesterone every other night. She said that is the recommendation. It helps me sleep. You saying your wife takes 400 mg every night reinforces the theory I have that I am being given low dose with all three hormone replacements.

I measure my hormones levels in urine with a home device. How dos blood levels of E translate into urine ng/ml?