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Originally Posted by BawdyWench
Yea, isn't menopause fun.
I'm taking fistfulls of vitamins and supplements recommended by WtoW (specifics are in my journal). I've just finished my first round of progesterone, and will be starting my second round in about a week. I'm already at the max for the DHEA (5 drops morning and night), and don't feel any different. They say that some women need more than 5 drops. My next appointment there is Thursday, June 1.
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If you are comfortable with the holistic approach (this is my choice as well, synthetic hormones will be my last resort), I would be inclined to trust them in this area, at least for a little while to give these meds a chance to work.
Your levels are very, very low, and its probably going to take at least a few months to slowly bring you back up.
I would possibly question their vit/min supplements, if you are not following their exact WOE, as your needs may be different. IMO, you can probably evaluate this on your own too.....especially as a past PP follower.
The pot/mag/cal. combo is very important at the menopausal stage (ostereperosis)...but every source I have sought out gives the same reccommended dosage that is standard for a LCer.
Antioxidants are important due to the collegen in the skin decreasing in menopause....I personally take CoQ10, Vit. E, Vit C, and Alpha Liopic Acid. Vit. D is also important, but I take the Eades approach with this as well and get it naturally from the sun rather than pop a pill.
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They are definitely proponents of Schwarzbein. It's strange. If you look at one of the articles on their site about "fad diets" it strongly recommends AGAINST Atkins and Protein Power and describes them as low-fat plans. Huh? Says they cause metabolic problems.
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I saw that too...but if you eliminate Atkins/PP out of that catagory and simply look at what they advocate to eat to give your body support, both of these plans really are in line with their opinion....at minimum, very close.
I had to email them recently regarding my progesterone dosage...told them what I was doing with nutrician/supplements in order to provide some history. They tried to sell me their products, of course, but did tell me I was doing the right things to provide my body with substantial support.
I believe that they are basing their nutricianal opinions soley off of Schwarzbein. However, if you consider the vast majority of medical professionals -- most of them are pro LC in the form of Schwarzbein or South Beach, which is the LC plans that best fit the mainstream mindset to include some grains/starches and the fear of saturated fats.
Other sources encourage eating soy....my own opinion is that this is beneficial only if you are low in estrogen, which again fits in with the LC mindset as soy flour is a common substitute for white flour. I personally had to back off soy, as all of my symptoms point to "estrogen dominance", and found I feel better without the soy -- started progesterone cream, soy doesn't bother me now.
Remember what your own LC knowledge tells you -- how would any of these extra foods, knowing what they do/don't do for your body, provide more support for someone in menopause? If anything, I think extra fats would be more beneficial, because your body is in a battle and would NEED the extra health support! Grains/starches, IMO, could be a bigger problem, especially if your symptoms include digestive issues.
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My NP says that the body absolutely needs carbs. I don't believe that. I tried discussing it with her, and told her I do a lot of reading. She looked down her nose at me and asked what I read. I told her I've read books, scientific studies I get on the Internet, and that I've been reading about human paleontology and our evolution since college.
She dismissed that and said that she's been studying this for 25 years, and she knows what's right (implying that what I think is wrong).
Well, I've lived in this body for 51 years, and I know what works and, more to the point, what DOESN'T work for my body. If I eat 90 carbs a day, it will set off cravings and I'll gain weight immediately. Then I'll be in worse shape.
I just get the feeling she's patronizing me, and I don't like it.
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Based on experimenting with my own body, I do share the opinion that "some" carbs are necessary.....and in menopause, the nutricianal aspects are giving the body maximum support through a healthy diet, with a few extras here and there to help counteract symptoms we have now that we didn't have when we were younger.
Like you, tho, I know only what works, and doesn't work, for MY body....and I NEED some carbs in order to feel good.
IMO, YOU are going to know more about what works for you than your NP, as she is not living in your body.
Trust your own knowledge, make sure you get information about menopausal nutrician from varied sources in order to help you make your own decision if you need to add/delete certain things.
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She keeps telling me that she's going to have me do the Isogenix program later this summer. I finally looked it up on the Internet, and it's a cleanse program where you have to drink their shakes and do all their cleanses and buy all their products. I think you have one "regular" meal (according to their instructions) per day. And it's expensive. Almost $350 for a month.
Now that I've read about it, I'm going to tell her that I will not do it. It's expensive, for one thing. For another thing, I don't believe in cleanses. For another thing, I don't believe that eating a bunch of fake stuff is better than eating whole, unprocessed, natural foods.
So there! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
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I would question this one too, for the same reasons you state.
This one sounds more like a sales pitch to me....they want to sell a product, and I can't say I blame them. Hard for them to advise someone unless that individual is using their products that THEY know and that they specialize in.
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She also wanted me to drop the workouts down to almost nothing until my adrenals are healed. (I'm starting to question the whole adrenal thing, too.) I've now gained even more. I now have these lumps of fat on both hips that were never there before, even when I was at my highest weight.
This week I upped my exercise again, and that will be my plan. I will be doing 30 minutes of treadmill most days (shooting for 5 to 6), and weight training twice a week -- an intense upper-body routine on Wednesdays (the day I work from home) and an intense lower-body routine on Saturdays or Sundays.
Sorry this got so long.
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Hard to see where 30 min. on a treadmill and weight training only two days a week would hurt you....it isn't heavy cardio or strenuous. I would think, tho, with an adrenal problem, you would have to watch overexhausting yourself, and making sure you get plenty of sleep.
Still recommend looking into Rebounding tho -- you can google it to see if the health benefits fit more into your NP's diagnosis (not necessarily her treatment, but diagnosis, LOL).
Overall, it sounds like you are feeling out of control with your body....and I can really relate to that. I worked so hard to get to know my body and use that to control my health/weight, and got slammed unexpectedly my first month in maintenance with these "new" hormonal symptoms, some of which are very close to my pre LCing concerns.
Fine, so the scenery has changed.....you've gotten control of your body before, and you can do so again, this time with a bunch of info and history behind you, it will just take time :-)
I haven't had the problem with putting any weight back on <yet>, with the exception of some extra bloating mid cycle. At this point, I think I may have caught this before my levels went too low....however, I have noticed since I started the prog. cream that I am releasing ALOT of water.
I have run across several women that have been able to successfully maintain a healthy weight after they achieved, or got control, of their hormone imbalances.....its certainly possible for you to get your weight back down, but IMO, the hormone balance is the main key in getting back your edge in the battle.