hormone therapy articles • Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary

Why Perimenopause Is Not About Aging

September 16, 2022September 14, 2022 by Lara Briden

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

July 10, 2022June 28, 2022 by Lara Briden

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

May 11, 2022April 6, 2022 by Lara Briden

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 some facts about body-identical estrogen.

What Is Bioidentical or Body-Identical Hormone Therapy?

March 27, 2022March 27, 2022 by Lara Briden

Bioidentical or body-identical hormones are estradiol and progesterone that are molecularly identical to human hormones. Most (not all) modern menopause hormone therapy is bioidentical. Keep reading for a list of brands.

The difference between “bioidentical” and “body-identical” is that body-identical is the preferred conventional term and bioidentical the term traditionally applied to customised hormone formulas dispensed by a compounding chemist, back when compounding was the only way to obtain such hormones.