Balancing Your Hormones Naturally: What To Do First
Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CN, HHP, CH
One of the questions that I frequently get asked is "What immediate steps do I need to take to begin getting my hormones in balance?" Remembering that knowledge is power, the following is what I suggest:
1) Test your hormone levels. The endocrine system is very intricate and affects just about every system in the body. Taking the time to test, in the long run, will save you many hours of “guess work” as well as a lot of money. Testing should be done by utilizing both saliva testing and blood testing. However, saliva testing will almost always match symptoms much better than serum testing. For more information about saliva testing your hormones in the privacy of your own home go to Saliva Testing Kits. You will need to test for estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol (if you are stressed do the morning and evening cortisol).
2) Educate yourself on the subjects of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, symptoms of hormone imbalance and balancing the hormones naturally by doing the following: (a) Compare your symptoms to our Hormone Calculator; (b) Read my e-book -- Proven Secrets to Whole Body Hormone Balance…You Can Feel Good; (c) Read the articles at the PMS-Menopause-Progesterone Resource Center. You can complete a, b, and c all from the comfort of your own home.
3) Take your saliva testing results to a healthcare professional that you trust and one that works with bio-identical hormones. If you cannot find a healthcare professional in your area, I offer telephone consults by appointment and will be glad to assist you in reaching your health goals. Make sure that you employ a healthcare professional that will work as a team-player. Ultimately, you are the one responsible for your health – not your doctor.
4) Get off synthetic HRT. If you are currently on synthetic HRT read How To Taper Off Synthetic Estrogen for instructions on how to get off HRT. You will need to wean yourself off gradually.
5) Total Body Health. As good as bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is, it is not an end-all or a magic bullet. Your goal should be to bring your body into optimum health and balance which in turn will accomplish a great deal in symptom relief and over-all wellness. Be willing to address detoxification (especially liver/gallbladder), diet, water in-take, supplementation, exercise, physical / emotional stress and environment. These are a MUST as they all play important roles in getting the hormones balanced and keeping them balanced. If you don’t know where to begin check out Dr. Lanphier's 3-Month FEEL BETTER FASTFREE Online Hormone Balancing Program.
6) Monitor hormone levels. Once you begin a program your hormone levels should be monitored through saliva testing every six months for two years and then once yearly for maintenance. This eliminates all the guesswork as to whether or not what you are doing is actually working. Of course, this testing is of no use if you are not being compliant with usage instructions and with the whole-body health mentioned in #5. The goal should be to get your body healthy and to hopefully stimulate the hormones back to balance.
7) Thyroid. Be willing to check out the possibility of thyroid issues. The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 1998 suggested that there are at least 13 million people in this country who have a thyroid concern - but don't know it. The thyroid doctors at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in NY estimated in 2000 that at least 20 million people are currently being treated for a thyroid concern. A 2001 article in the Journal of Epidemiology reveals that one of every four menopausal women is suffering from some degree of hypothyroidism. Blood testing is not a good indicator of thyroid levels, but symptoms can be. For the most accurate labs tests to determine thyroid issues go to Balancing the Thyroid Naturally. I would also suggest reading about iodine therapy. Most will still need to use a bio-identical progesterone cream in order to totally balance the hormonal system.
About Supplements: All supplements/vitamins are not created equal. Sometimes the fillers, binders and excipients can actually add harmful toxins into the body or affect hormone receptors thus negating any benefit that one might get from the vitamin. I believe this is one reason why natural medicine is not taken seriously by many people. A $6.95 supplement is tried but didn’t work; therefore, the reasoning is that natural medicine does not work. Certainly it can be overwhelming and time consuming to decide which supplements are needed and which ones will actually work. This is why I believe it is important to have a healthcare professional on your team who is knowledgeable about what supplements will be absorbed, transported and utilized effectively by the body without adding more toxicity to the body. For information about the supplementation that I recommend to OAW clients get my e-book – Proven Secrets to Whole Body Hormone Balance…You Can Feel Good. OAW is not a vitamin company. We are a natural health company devoted to helping people bring back good health and well-being using natural methods. We accomplish this by offering the most advanced health programs and supplementation on the market today.
At Oasis Advanced Wellness, we specialize in getting the hormones in balance with recommendations that will also help to get the whole body healthy. For many it is the first time in a long, long time that true health and well-being is experienced. You can experience this, too.
Loretta Lanphier , ND, CN, HHP is a Naturopathic Physician and the Founder/CEO of Oasis Advanced Wellness in Houston, Texas where she educates clients about optimum health and wellness using natural, non-toxic methods through a whole-body approach. A prolific writer and speaker, Dr. Lanphier considers it her life mission and focus to help people get healthy and stay healthy, naturally. We invite you to visit us at Oasis Advanced Wellness!
Where Can I Get More Information on Natural Progesterone and Natural Hormone Balance?
For a detailed explanation of women's hormone balance issues, a complete hormone balance program which will also give instructions on how to get the whole body healthy, as well as detailed descriptions of how to use natural progesterone, please get my e-book, Proven Secrets to Whole Body Hormone Balance...You Can Feel Good. For informative articles about natural progesterone and bio-identical hormone balancing please go to: www.oasisserene.com
