How I got into hormones

[Guest guest]

Though hormones are at the center of the

work I do I never really chose to go in that

direction and am always a little surprised to

have ended there. About 15 years ago a

friend dropped a pile of papers on my desk

suggesting I give them a careful look. She

had found this discussion/presentation of

natural progesterone at a recent conference

and wanted my opinion.

Upon reading I soon learned that progesterone

is an important hormone in both men and

women but particularly in women. The surge

to high levels in the second half of the menstrual

cycle is the defining feature of the 'luteal phase',

roughly days '14-28'. The sharp drop in

progesterone brings on menstruation. High levels

are key in getting and staying pregnant. Inadequate

progesterone is usually the cause of miscarriages

in the first trimester. But all this was new to me

back then.

What caught my interest, at that time, was that

low levels of progesterone will cause PMS,

infertility, anxiety, depression, thyroid dysfunction,

acne, fibroids etc. The list goes on much longer.

I was stepping through the looking glass into the

surreal world of hormones and frankenstein

un-hormones that continues to outrage me o this

day. Scientists were able to synthetically make real

progesterone by the late 1930's. Properly used to

replace a deficiency in women/men it has no

known side effects. But this is usually not what

happens.

Drug companies can not get a patent on natural

substances. You can not patent Vitamin C,

progesterone, estrogen, testosterone etc. Without

a patent allowing for mega profits large drug

companies have no interest. But if they alter the

hormone by a molecule or two they can patent that.

So instead of real hormones women get

frankenstein un-hormones:

Not progesterone but drugs like Provera or other

'progestins' as these progesterone analogues are

called. Not estrogen but drugs like Premarin.

Not cortisol but drugs like prednisone and its

many variants.

One day I told a friend that I thought making

these un-hormones was a form of intellectual

prostitution on the part of the scientists involved.

Selling their knowledge to the highest bidder,

despite the dire consequences to people.

He said " Hmmm, sort of whoremones. " We

laughed. I said " A great term, but will probably

offend too many, and besides it really only

works when you write it, not speak it. But a

good point. Meanwhile I'll use 'un-hormones',

because it is a real corruption of language to

call progestins etc hormones. "

Birth control pills contain deformed un-hormones

of combined 'estrogen' and 'progesterone'. They

do work as 'birth control' but with the legendary

side effects. Body builders don't get real

testosterone they get the un-hormone

methyltestosterone.

At menopause women do not get 'hormone

replacement' as it is dishonestly called. They do

not get real hormones which they may or may

not need. They get un-hormones that were never

intended by nature for use in people. They do

not get physiological 'replacement', they get

pharmacological overdoses with unnatural

un-hormones at levels never reached by a

young woman in her most fertile years.

In time so-called Hormone Replacement Therapy

became the nation's most prescribed drugs and

one of the most profitable sectors for the large

drug companies. The last few years has seen the

government stopping large controlled studies of

these dubious but ubiquitous drugs due to

unacceptable levels of cancer, heart disease,

stroke, dementia etc. Only the clueless and the

corrupt were surprised.

But this is getting ahead of my story. Back in

the '80's I was just learning of all this thanks

to the papers a friend and colleague shared

with me. In this pile was a paper by Lee MD

reporting his study where he had elderly women

actually re-grow lost bone using progesterone

only. This was much better than estrogen which

could only slow bone loss but could not replace

already lost bone.

However my clients, at that time, were not elderly

men & women concerned about Osteoporosis,

but young women concerned with PMS, depression,

anxiety, acne etc.

I shared with friends and clients what I had learned

and that natural progesterone seemed safe

(if Properly used) and possibly worth a try. Many

women were interested and began asap. Real

progesterone was available and inexpensive. The

results were dramatic and favorable. For many

years I carefully took notes about my clients'

experiences, learning what worked and what did not.

We learned a lot about correct dosing and what

to expect. I scoured the stores and libraries for

books and literature on progesterone. Every

time someone had a problem with it I would

read and re-read the literature until I thought

I had found the answer. In time I became very

good at it and received more and more referrals.

Over time my clients became women of all ages

with hormone problems looking for safe and

effective help. The cases though were

progressively more and more serious. I always

start with a very thorough medical history and

I listened to hundreds and hundreds of hours

of women telling of hormone related hell and

then of often worse suffering as doctors treated

them with frankenstein un-hormones.

Women who had already undergone prior

un-hormone treatment were the most difficult

to treat as their bodies suffered from the original

imbalance compounded with standard medical

mistreatment.

I also encountered a great deal of righteous

anger as women were furious to learn that their

doctors were treating them with unnatural

un-hormones that had been modified for

commercial, patent seeking, profit maximizing

purposes. Of course I share that anger, even

more as the years have gone by and I have seen

how unnecessary the whole mess is.

Lee MD whose paper was one of the best

in the initial pile I read went on to write several

best selling books on the topic. (see below)

All currently in print in paperback.

(Lee died at age 75 in October '03.)

As time went by the women coming for help

were sicker and sicker and there seemed to be

patterns. The progesterone related problems

would come in 'packages' combining issues like:

-chronic and/or recurring vaginal yeast infections

-headaches at time of period, that over time

would become diagnosed as 'migraines' and

would extend in time till the woman had them

all the time. But in the beginning they were

clearly related to the menstrual cycle.

-acne and various skin problems that began

with menstruation and would get worse at

time of period.

-dry skin, dry hair, constipation, tendency to

upper respiratory infections, low energy, and

the oh so very frequent complaint of low body

temperature. These women would get cold very

easily, or were cold all the time. These symptoms

I was learning were all classic low thyroid, but

most of these women were being told that their

thyroid was okay, or that it was being properly

treated.

THYROID.

Lee MD wrote that he was introduced to

natural progesterone and a critique of the

dominant paradigm of 'estrogen replacement'

by F. Peat PhD a biologist and author

of important works (see below).

Peat's writings stressed the very close

inter-relationship of thyroid and progesterone.

He clearly sees them as sort of Siamese twins;

you never think of one without the other.

But routinely women who were chronically cold,

constipated, suffered PMS, had problems with

fertility etc were being told by their doctors

that their thyroid was okay. A reading of the

critical literature on thyroid uncovered the work

of Broda , PhD, MD (author of the classic

HYPOTHYROIDISM; still in print.) and other

alternative doctors who offered options for

different ways to test and treat the thyroid.

But thyroid was tricky because it required

specialized testing and treatments were by

prescription. Once again my friend intervened

and told me of a local MD Iternist who

had a special blood test for thyroid (called TRH

challenge) that would often diagnose thyroid

problems missed by conventional TSH testing.

Now I use tests better than either but at the

time it was a big breakthrough. When I called

the Doctor we talked a long time and found

we had a lot in common. I think I knew the

hormones better than he but he had made

real strides in finding labs doing cutting edge

work in properly testing hormones and in

alternative GI testing.

He had tried them all and offered to help me

test all my clients through the lab he felt was

best. He told the lab I was on his staff and to

give me carte blanche to speak/act on his behalf.

One year I spent hundreds of hours discussing

results with MD's in this lab till I fully learned the

intricacies of the testing and evaluation. In time

the lab was even nice enough to give me an

account in my own name.

Eventually I set up a good working relationship

with a different Doctor. She is a Family Practitioner

and Acupuncturist whose clients mainly come with

AIDS or hepatitis. So she is used to very ill patients.

My clients like her a lot.

Over the last few years the FDA declared Synthroid,

the main thyroid drug, " neither safe nor effective " .

The Women's Health Initiative study of menopause

hormone therapy found that the conventional

un-hormones:

- increased the risk for breast cancer, heart attack,

blood clots and stroke (JAMA. 2002; 288: 321-333)

-offered no benefit for mood, sexual function or

vitality (N Engl J Med2003; 348).

-doubles the risk of developing dementia

(JAMA. 2003; 289: 2651-2662).

" ...the WHI study indicates a possible increase of

42,000 cases of breast cancer due to the

Premarin/Provera compound. This is why the study

was stopped " , wrote Lee MD (Nov '02).

These are not minor events. Over the last two decades

Synthroid and conventional Hormone Therapy have

been the #1 and #2 drugs. So endocrinology is in

disarray yet most women (and men) do not know

there are viable, safe, effective options. As a result

persons like myself who specialize in natural

hormones and effective testing are busy but barely

scratching the surface of the vast numbers who

need effective help.

One last anecdote and I'll wind this up. A few years ago ...

****

1.) Books by Lee, MD:

NATURAL PROGESTERONE:

The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone (1993)

*WHAT YOUR DOCTOR MAY NOT TELL YOU ABOUT

MENOPAUSE (1996) (be sure to get the Revised and

Updated edition. This is listed in a bold black stripe

across the to of the cover.)

WHAT YOUR DOCTOR MAY NOT TELL YOU ABOUT

PREMENOPAUSE (1999)

*WHAT YOUR DOCTOR MAY NOT TELL YOU ABOUT

BREAST CANCER (2002)

OPTIMAL HEALTH GUIDELINES (1993 rev '95 and '99)

(*My suggestion for the best 2 to read, regardless

of age or sex.)

http://www.johnleemd.com/

2.) Books by F. Peat, PhD:

-PROGESTERONE IN ORTHOMOLECULAR MEDICINE (1993)

-*PMS TO MENOPAUSE: Female Hormones in Context (1997)

-MIND AND TISSUE: Russian Research Perspectives on the

Human Brain (1976, 1994)

-NUTRITION FOR WOMEN (1993)

-GENERATIVE ENERGY: Restoring the Wholeness of Life (1994)

in addition to a monthly newsletter.

http://www.efn.org/~raypeat/

___________________________

Best wishes,

Pat

[Guest guest]

un-hormones was a form of intellectual prostitution

Then I guess most medicine is UN-medicine because it is synthesized from something else? Is Penicillin UN medicine because it is synthesized or should we eat mold?

You also never mention just what your credentials and educational background are in this long post? Do you see "clients" at a physicians office, or clinic? You really say very little about just how you are qualified to consult?

Sammie