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I'm taking the "Gone Birthing" sign down - a month
and a half late but the truth of the matter is that once
you have a baby (as I'm sure many of you can relate) nothing
happens fast. Having said that, I do apologize. I am
thoroughly enjoying the onset of mother and besides being
tired a lot, I haven't found the adjustment that difficult
-- although if you asked me a month a go, I said the
opposite! Looking back, the first couple of weeks
were tough. I found caring for her a joy but all this
stuff was going on with my body, including a bout of mastitis
and a touch of post pardum. Compared to a relatively easy
pregnancy, that was a lot. I highly recommend Omega-3's for
postpardum. I started taking them the day after she
was born, and they did help a lot - I take a high dose, 1
- 2 grams a day. If I miss a day, I can feel the difference. I'm
still taking them.
My daughter was born September 13th, at 3:53 PM. She's
a very healthy 8lbs 10 oz., 21 inch gem. (she's now
close to 15lbs!) Her name is Dorothy Zoe Otto, named
after my mother who I lost in 2000. I call her
Zoe -- so she'll be D. Zoe Otto. I tell you, never
a dull moment in the baby birthing business. I had
everything all set up for a natural child birth - music to
labor by (lots of Sade - that kind of stuff), music when
she came out ( "Here Comes the Sun"), essential
oils burning in the room, (the nurses loved that) and my
own lights so I wouldn't have that hospital feel. (spotlights
from Home Depot, $10 each).
Very little came to pass (LOL). I
did labor for eight hours to my music and essential oils,
-- but I couldn't find the right music groove, kept changing
it, all of which frustrated me. I didn't use the lights
because it was daytime. My
daughter wasn't coming down the birth canal AT ALL - so it
was a C section for me. On the bright side, it was
the best birthing experience for the circumstances as pain,
complications and exhaustion were all minimized for baby
and mommy. It's just kind of humorous that the birthing
experience I pictured in my head (and I was ready to get
to work) and the actual event were very, very different. I
guess you can say I've been well indoctrinated to motherhood.
Thanks to all of you who sent your
good wishes. I
am truly touched.
So on to the business at hand. I'm
going to talk just about one issue this month as it's kind
of complicated and one that I get a lot of questions about. I'm
going to report on bio-identical hormones. For those
of you who don't know what bio-identical hormones are, they
are plant hormones that are chemically treated to match the
structure of our hormones. Bio-identical hormones are
prescribed by a health care professional and are made at
a Compounding Pharmacy. There are experts
that believe they are much safer and just as effective as
conventional HRT.
BIOIDENTICAL HORMONES
Women often
ask me what I think of these and I do like them better
than conventional hormones, but only if all else fails. Keep
in mind that it has been estimated that 85% of women can
find relief during this transition we know as peri menopause/menopause
by using one or a combination of lifestyle, nutiritonal
and/or herbal supplementation.
As a refresher, we produce three
different strengths of estrogen. From strongest to weakest they are estradiol,
estrone and estriol. Estradiol is most prevalent in
reproductive years as it plays a major role in follical (or
egg) development, estrone is more prevalent in menopausal
years and estriol is prevalent throughout your life but most
dominant during pregnancy. (see http://www.oonahealth.com/peri.html for a full explanation and click on "estrogen")
The definition of bio-identical hormones
is what the name implies -they are made from plant sources
and modified to identically match the chemical structure
of hormones made naturally by our bodies. Synthetic hormones, while
we often think of Premarin and horse's urine, may also come
from plant sources. The difference is that these are
not processed to match human hormones and tend to be much
stronger.
There is another important difference
- as there are conventional (pharmaceutical) hormones that
are bio-identical. Conventional
therapy either supplies just one of the two strongest hormones
- estradiol or estrone - or, more recently, a set combination
of the two. Bio-identical treatment includes all three
estrogens and is made specifically for you based on a blood
or saliva test. Prescribed by a healthcare professional,
bio-identical are then made up at a Compounding Pharmacy.
(Compounding pharmacies are not regular pharmacies)
Compared to conventional hormones, it is
believed and shown that bio- identical hormones are metabolized
closer if not the same as our own hormones and therefore
produce the same effects with less adverse effects. And
while there are European studies that show they are indeed
safer, there are no long term studies that prove it either
way. It is assumed that bio-identical and conventional
pose the same risks - risks such as breast cancer and blood
clots.
One of the main criticisms of bio-identical
hormones is that they are unregulated and therefore somehow
dangerous as it is generally believed that they are safer. If
they are compounded in a reputable pharmacy, of which there
are many, this criticism in my opinion is unfounded. It
must be taken into consideration that only conventional or
synthetic hormones can be patented - these companies have
a lot invested in making us believe that only their products
are safe.
However, there are questions that
don't seem to have clear answers. The procedure for this regime is to get a
saliva or blood test that tests your hormone levels. There
are differing opinions about which test is more accurate,
which leads me to believe that neither is reliably accurate. Some
say saliva testing is better because it tells how much estrogen
is available to be absorbed. Apparently, blood tests
can't tell you that. Others say blood tests are better
because saliva tests can differ so greatly at different times
of the month or even day. Then there is the question
about what level you should be obtaining? If you don't
have a baseline from your late 30's early 40's, it would
seem to me, very difficult to determine. The going
consensus is to just add the least amount of hormones to
obtain relief. If three estrogens are being compounded,
it seems like a difficult balance to obtain without a baseline. However,
if you compare this procedure to conventional treatment that
personalizes very little if at all, this does seem better.
Oöna works very well for me - however, if nothing worked
and I was miserable, I would try bio-identical for a shortest
period of time. I think that Dr. Susan Love makes an
important point - it is not safe for us to maintain reproductive
amounts of hormones for our whole lives. This is why
we go through menopause. Respecting nature and tampering
with this biological process A LITTLE seems okay - but how
much is too much and how long is too long? It's becoming
more and more apparent that the answer is an individual answer. At
least, in my opinion, bio-identical hormones are a step in
the right direction.
So how do you find a health care
professional that will work with you on this? Besides asking around, I would
work backwards. You can call a Compounding Pharmacy
in your area or find one by contacting The International
Academy of Compounding Pharmacists at 800-927-4227. Ask
for a reference to an MD or other healthcare professional
that uses their services.
My favorite on the subject - the first one is selling a
program of some nature but offers a great explanation.
http://www.womenshealth.com/patientinfo/NHRT.pdf
http://www.drnorthrup.com/menopause-2.php
http://susanlovemd.com/community/questions/question020812.htm
Mostly con-bioidentical.
http://www.minniepauz.com/bio-identical-hormones.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051031/hl_nm/hormonetherapy_dc
http://www.healthywomen.org/Documents/BioidenticalHormones.pdf
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com. In Good Health,
The Oöna Team
Questions or comments? Write valerie@oonahealth.com
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