balanced hormones

Hi Merilee!
Balanced means that the estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, etc is all in the reference range.  For instance, when I had my hormone panel done by the naturopathic md (onc and obgyn wouldn't do it), they tested everything as follows:

Estridiol

Estrone

Estriol

Progesterone

Testosterone

DHEA

SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin)

16 Hydroxyestrone

2 Hydroxyestrone

2:16 Hydroxyestrone Ratio

Free Androgen Index

Based on the information gathered from the blood test, it showed that my progesterone was super low, so I am supplementing with progesterone, my 2:16 ratio was off, my 16 hydroxyestrone (the bad stuff) was too high, and my 2 hydroxyestrone too low (the good stuff), so I am on supplements to improve the ratio.  So in my mind, the purpose of balancing is to make sure that the bad estrogens are not dominant in your system, which is what causes problems.  Estrogen is not bad for you, its only bad when its not counteracted by your other hormones which will keep you healthy.

I hope that makes sense, please let me know if it doesn't!!

Lorraine ox

Wow, Lorraine!  You really know this stuff!  I'm impressed!  Thanks for such a comprehensive explanation.  And, Merilee -- great idea to start a separate thread!    Deanna

PS73 - that was so funny!! I had a mental picture LOL!!

My ND MAY do phone consults, I am not too sure, but you can definately check, I will PM you her info.  The books to read to start with, would be "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer, How Hormone Balance Can Save Your Life" Dr. John Lee and "Breakthrough" by Suzanne Somers.  Both are amazing books, and really opened my eyes. In the back of Suzanne Somers book, she lists the doctors specializing in hormones by state, which should really help.

L

ox

Barb!

Here you go!!

Green Tea Extract

Fiber over 40grams per day

DIM

Omega 3 Fish Oil

CoQ10

Curcumin/Tumeric

Selenium

Vit D-3

Iodine

Vit C

Calcium D-Glucarate       

Calcium D-Glucarate is a relatively common nutrient found in many fruits and vegetables. Many believe that this nutrient aids the body in the elimination of many harmful substances and helps to lower abnormally high levels of steroid hormones including estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. Both of these effects may help to protect against the development of certain tumors

Metanx

Vitamin A

Vitamin E (liquid)

Biotin

Betaine

Boron

Glutamic Acid

Hesperidin

Inositol

L-Phenylalanine

L-Tyrosine

Grape Seed Extract

Alpha Lipoic Acid

DMAE 

Progesterone (2 weeks on 2 weeks off)

Organic as much as I can! Run 5 x a week

fairy49,

Finally! Someone who is telling the women that estrogen is not bad for you but... sweetie...you have it all together!!       and I quote...

"Estrogen is not bad for you, its only bad when its not counteracted by your other hormones which will keep you healthy."

I have made a few posts here on this site, and recently they been in the alternative forum. My daughter Lori (47 now), was dx with TNBC in June of 2007, had chemo and rads, and now is on BHRT. I just read of all the vitamins/supplements that you are taking and it sounds like Lori's list! She is also on the Anticancer diet by Servan-Schreiber.

As I said in another post, she knew in her heart if she did not do this that she would have been dx with mets by now.  What people fail to understand is that when your hormones are not balanced as nature would balance them, you are going to have serious problems or worse...diseases like cancer.

Why are people so reluctant to take BHRT and yet will allow their doctors to prescribe the synthetic HRT and take drugs which just compound the problems? Have you read Somers new book Knockout? That will really open your eyes! I read The Sexy Years, Ageless, and Breakthrough but this one is the best!

I hope you all do not mind if I drop in from time to time. I have been posting on the TNBC site for over 27 months, and it was just recently that the Alternative thread was added. (Not really a forum). No one wants to hear what my daughter is doing, and yet she is probably the only one who is doing well, and is feeling like she is in her thirties. I haven't read all of you posts fairy49, but are you going to an antiaging specialist like Lori?

Nan

Merilee... my CNP said that the norm ranges on the report generally lag way behind the research and therefore optimal levels. 

Thank you, thank you for this info, Lorraine! You have just said what I feel in my gut. I just saw an ND on Monday and he suggested having my estrogen levels checked. I am going to do that. I do not want to go on tamoxifin. There is also someone here locally that does all kinds of bio-marker tests. I need to find out more about what she does. Thanks again!

Lorraine, WOW, great info!!

I have to add something that is VERY important beyond the food/nutrition/supplement/BHRT factor. It is that EXERCISE is absolutely CRITICAL to getting our hormones naturally in balance.

Two other factors are:

1) getting into the sunshine as much as possible (20 minutes several times a week at minimum, if you're fortunate enough to live in an area that's not dreary all the time -- this is for more reasons than just vitamin D3, btw) and

2) getting 8 hours of sleep, starting by 10pm if at all possible, in COMPLETE darkness.

During my fertility treatment, I became intimately familiar with my hormone levels. What I found was that when I took a drug to supposedly balance my hormones so that I could conceive, it barely worked. But when I did those three things (exercise, sunshine, and sleeping in complete darkness) along with a good diet, my hormones came perfectly into balance WITHOUT medication. 

Between those things -- the great info and suggestions Lorraine has shared, with exercise, sunshine, and sleep in complete darkness, there is NO reason we can't bring our hormones into balance naturally! Of course, you'll never hear a doctor tell you that you have to sleep in total darkness or get sunlight exposure, and they only give lip service to diet and exercise!!

edited to add: Oh, and this probably goes without saying, but excess body fat CAN and WILL throw your hormones off balance. I know this was an issue for me. I had always been slim, but began gaining a lot of weight in 2005 with my first miscarriage (and gained more and more after each one). Of course, if we're eating well and exercise, our weight will naturally optimize, but I just wanted to mention it because having even an extra 30-40 pounds can make you estrogen dominant (as I learned from experience at my peak weight).

Info on Boron:

There is a boron-containing natural antibiotic, boromycin, isolated from streptomyces.^[88][89] Boron is an essential plant nutrient, required primarily for maintaining the integrity of cell walls. Conversely, high soil concentrations of > 1.0 ppm can cause marginal and tip necrosis in leaves as well as poor overall growth performance. Levels as low as 0.8 ppm can cause these same symptoms to appear in plants particularly sensitive to boron in the soil. Nearly all plants, even those somewhat tolerant of boron in the soil, will show at least some symptoms of boron toxicity when boron content in the soil is greater than 1.8 ppm. When this content exceeds 2.0 ppm, few plants will perform well and some may not survive. When boron levels in plant tissue exceed 200 ppm symptoms of boron toxicity are likely to appear.^[90][91][92]

As an ultratrace element, boron is necessary for the optimal health of rats, although it is necessary in such small amounts that ultrapurified foods and dust filtration of air is necessary to show the effects of boron deficiency, which manifest as poor coat/hair quality. Presumably, boron is necessary to other mammals. No deficiency syndrome in humans has been described. Small amounts of boron occur widely in the diet, and the amounts needed in the diet would, by analogy with rodent studies, be very small. The exact physiological role of boron in the animal kingdom is poorly understood.^[93]

Boron occurs in all foods produced from plants. Since 1989 its nutritional value has been argued. It is thought that boron plays several biochemical roles in animals, including humans.^[94] The U.S. Department of agriculture conducted an experiment in which postmenopausal women took 3 mg of boron a day. The results showed that supplemental boron reduced excretion of calcium by 44%, and activated estrogen and vitamin D. However, whether these effects were conventionally nutritional, or medicinal, could not be determined. The US National Institutes of Health quotes this source:

Total daily boron intake in normal human diets ranges from 2.1-4.3 mg boron/kg body weight (bw)/day.

Glutamic Acid:

http://www.evitamins.com/healthnotes.asp?ContentID=2855004

Couldn't find anything on Betin Boitin

L

ox

Fairy you are making laugh! I am so glad that somone else is annoying everyone she meets besides me! My poor SIL was telling me today that she keeps getting headaches, and I ran to my bookshelf and told her to start reading about hormone balance! I think we are on the same mission. I do not want anyone I know to go through the hell of bc. It can be prevented if women are able to get the facts. I feel the same way you do-if only I knew then what I know now. I never knew how much I never knew. Now I am obsessed with learning everything I can!