In women, too much testosterone can cause insulin resistance and abdominal weight gain.
That’s why androgen excess is a factor in the weight gain associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), menopause, and some types of birth control.
hormone therapy
Body-identical or bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy uses hormones that are exactly identical to human hormones. Bioidentical hormones are 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.
Why Perimenopause Is Not About Aging
Perimenopause or “second puberty” is the two to ten years before the final period. It’s different from menopause, which is the life phase that begins one year after the final period. Symptoms, if they occur at all, occur mostly during perimenopause and are temporary.
The normal age for the final period is anywhere from 45 to 55, so the normal age for perimenopause is up to ten years before that—as young as 35. In other words, if you were born before 1984, you could be in perimenopause and yet still be relatively young. That’s why perimenopause is not about aging but is instead about an important (and unavoidable) recalibration of your hormonal system.
Guide to Using Progesterone for Women’s Health
Body-identical or bioidentical progesterone is a viable treatment for women’s health conditions such as PCOS, PMDD, migraines, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and perimenopause.
Progesterone is called oral micronized progesterone and requires a doctor’s prescription. Brand names include PrometriumⓇ, UtrogestanⓇ, TevaⓇ, and FamenitaⓇ, depending on your country. Alternatively, progesterone cream is available over-the-counter in some countries and can help with mild symptoms but is generally not as effective as capsules.
Here’s what you need to know.
A Safer Type of Hormone Therapy
If you’re going to take hormone therapy, it’s safer to take hormones that are identical to human hormones. In other words, hormones that are body-identical or bioidentical. The concept of bioidentical used to be controversial but is now conventional and mainstream.
In episode five of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss hormone therapy, including:
- why the concept of bioidentical was controversial when it didn’t need to be
- oral micronized progesterone for heavy periods, mood, sleep, and perimenopausal migraines, and
- facts about body-identical estrogen.