The Menopause – Why HRT isn’t the answer.

The Menopause – A Horrible infliction on ladies or needless suffering with the right information?

As I was in the gym today I glanced up and saw the hashtag #bbcmenopause – obviously this caught my attention. Now I didn’t listen to it at length but the gist of it is to bring awareness to the topic and consider the experience ladies go through.

I absolutely agree that if we understand what can happen during menopausal changes, it can stop shitty comment from guys, friends & family that don’t understand. Yet, in my experience of working with people the severity of symptoms isn’t necessary.

In the extreme ladies can face

-depression

-weight gain

-anxiety

– hot sweats

– broken sleep

– fatigue

Just to name a few. (There are 32 associates symptoms)

Now, menopause is where we see production of oestrogen decrease from the ovaries.

Usually this happens between age 40-50 roughly, yet WHY are we starting to see early onset of menopause?

Aka if it really is the ‘natural’ decline why would we start to experience it earlier? I have some thoughts and later on some advice to help those suffering the affects of the menopause.

Let’s consider for a second a few biological responses.

When you are chronically stressed, anxious and or depressed you will produce higher levels of glucocorticoids (cortisol as example). The impact of high circulating cortisol can be it blocks the pathway from your brain to your ovaries.

It can also, imbalance your blood sugars which will send you on potential mood, energy and anger spells. It also will affect conversion of testosterone to oestrogen. Now this isn’t to paint Cortisol or its buddies as bad, they are life saving yet when used in the wrong way they play havoc.

Also consider, your adrenal glands that sit on top of your kidneys help regulate the stress response but also, they are responsible for the production of DHEA which can end up as oestrogen via various enzymatic reactions.

Yet if we are emotionally and physically stressed we rule this out. This is WHY you see so many practitioners talk about hormones and ‘try’ and balance the adrenals.

In my view things like the ‘Dutch test’ are pointless if you don’t look at the next 2 parts.

Inflammation (identified and unidentified) – often these days I see ladies with poor bacterial balance, yeast and fungal issues. The problem with this is that the waste these produce cause inflammation in the body.

Inflammation will up regulate the stress response (that’s why we don’t start with adrneals / hormones), inflammation will also cause more oxidative stress at a cellular level and that in turn will cause cell and tissue damage.

These things like HRT might take symptoms DOWN but INCREASE your risk factors for things like stroke due to how this medication is metabolised by the liver.

Emotional hygiene. I see so many ladies that are in transition in their life and this uncertainty of what to do next, what they want to experience brings forward anxiousness – thus triggering the stress response.

The more anxious / in fear we are, the worse food choices we will make because the stress response will raise cravings etc

Moreover, this will in turn affect things like sleep and motivation also.

This really is just scrapping the surface, it’s incredibly important to treat each person individually and look at the key drivers for issues.

For instance I haven’t even talked about binding of sex hormones, receptor sensitivity or immune issues which are ALL important too. Not to mention the increased risk of symptoms by being overweight BEFORE you reach this age.

So, as I hope you see, it’s NOT just a naturally drop in oestrogen, there are many factors that affect WHEN AND HOW you experience the menopause.

And don’t get me started on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) – not only is it no more than homeopathic dose, it completely knocks out other pathways and can affect mood and weight.

Science shows us CLEARLY that oral medication causes increase risk to health…

“ Recent clinical trial data have pointed to a slight increase in the number of breast cancers among women using HRT compared to placebo. With regard to cardiovascular health, the data have shown an increase in stroke…”

For me a few simple things you can do right now are.

-Diet / blood sugars – nearly all ladies I deal with have blood sugar issues and Maintaining healthy levels throughout the day. This can be emotionally induced, as well as food etc.

Start by just being mindful of choices. Picking single ingredient, fresh food. A mixture of quality meat / fish / veggies / good fats (be mindful of when you intake starchy carbs and how you feel).

-Sleep – to help reset, deep rested sleep is essential. And I know the night sweats make that tricky, yet balancing your blood sugars will help keep that in check.

Keep off electronics at least an hour before bed, cool bedroom, maybe dim lights etc.

This all helps prepare the body for sleep and lowers the chance of cortisol production which BLOCKS your sleep hormone.

-Move your body – get yourself to yoga, Pilates, light weight training to help with joint / muscle health.

It’s also imperative to move to stimulate the lymphatic system is like the garbage disposal system.

-Hydration – cellular health and many processes require adequate hydration. Aim for 2-3 litres of food quality water and consider adding a small pinch of quality rock salt to each litre (as long as no kidney issues exist) to help with absorbing and cellular function.

-liver health – the liver is amazing and responsible for over 200 different functions. What I see in ladies is poor stage 2 clearance. This is where hormones are cleared.

Now, don’t jump to expensive supplements, just do the above and be aware of what you put on your skin, makeup etc that all have to be processed by the liver.

So this really is a basic look at what you can start doing to help feel better, it’s more than possible.

When I work with clients I go way deeper than this to ensure a bespoke plan is matched to their history in health and is best suited to goals moving forward.

It’s why I use cellular testing to see exact pathways that are held up and what inflammation might be present that we are not seeing on the surface.

In a nutshell, the severe symptoms are UNNECESSARY. When the body is balanced, it will not show up in these extreme ways.

I’d happily take on a challenge from BBC to work with a person that suffers badly with menopausal issues and see the comparison to a someone just on HRT.

Now that might annoy some people as they have heard counter by doctors etc Yet I have had great success so I will always stand my ground.

As ever, any questions just ask.

Cliff

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