Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods
Body identical hormone therapy includes an estradiol patch and oral micronised progesterone. Hormones that are exactly identical to the body’s own hormones.
Night sweats, mood swings, and crazy heavy periods. Is this menopause already? And you’re only 42? No, menopause could still be a decade away. This is perimenopause or second puberty, which is the two to twelve years before your final period.
Perimenopause is different from menopause, which is the life phase that begins one year after your final period.
Menstrual or hormonal migraines are the result of 1) estrogen-induced high histamine, and 2) altered levels of neurotransmitters when both estrogen and progesterone drop at the end of the cycle.
Natural treatments for hormonal migraines include oral micronized progesterone and magnesium. The synthetic estrogen and progestins of hormonal birth control are usually not a good idea.
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.
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 in the day when compounding was the only way to obtain hormones identical to the body’s own hormones.