Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods
Body-identical menopausal hormone therapy uses hormones that are exactly identical to human hormones. It is safer than other types of hormone replacement, both in terms of cardiovascular risk and breast cancer risk. Examples include transdermal estradiol patches and oral micronized progesterone.
Struggling with hormonal weight gain around your middle? It’s a common problem with PCOS, menopause, and birth control, but it’s not caused by estrogen. In women, estrogen is beneficial for weight loss.
Instead, abdominal weight gain is caused by insulin, testosterone, and progestins with a “high androgen index.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Read moreHow Insulin and Testosterone Cause Weight Gain in Women
Progesterone is usually calming but can produce a paradoxical anxiety response in some women. It’s called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) or neurosteroid change sensitivity and affects about one in twenty women.
It happens because progesterone interacts with GABA receptors in the brain and normally has a calming effect. The same natural level of progesterone can have a stimulating effect in women with PMDD due to a problem with the GABA receptors.
Read moreWhy Progesterone Is Both Good and Bad for Mood (and How to Treat PMDD)
The progestins in hormonal birth control are not progesterone.
Yet, so many journalists and even doctors use the word progesterone when they really mean a progestin drug such as drospirenone, levonorgestrel, or medroxyprogesterone. They are not the same thing.
Read moreThe Crucial Difference Between Progesterone and Progestins
In your forties, you may find you don’t cope as well with stress. It happens because losing progesterone during perimenopause can destabilize the HPA (adrenal) axis or stress response system.
This recalibration of the nervous system is why perimenopause is associated with an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Read moreHow to Survive the Great Progesterone Crash of Perimenopause