HRT – What To Ask Your GP For

I want to tell you about one of my Mind Body Reset ladies. Let’s call her Marie.

Marie was feeling overwhelmed, overweight, anxious and down when she started working with me. Her confidence at work was at rock bottom, and she knew she needed to make a change.

Over the past 8 weeks, she has lost weight (about a stone & a half), started exercising, leaving work at a decent time, protecting her energy and saying No without feeling guilty, but was still struggling with some very physical feelings of anxiety.

Due to an ovariectomy in her early 30’s, Marie had been on HRT for the last 20 years.

However, she was on the conjugated estrogen (taken pretty unethically from pregnant mares), an older oral version, so we decided it was time for her to have a review and discuss switching to the new Body Identical transdermal gels (i.e., taken through the skin) now available.

On our next call, Marie couldn’t wait to share her win. Within 24 hours of switching to body-identical HRT, her anxiety had disappeared, and she felt like a new woman!

I have to say I was blown away at the change myself.

There are so many elements highlighted in this story, but I think the main one is that although NICE advise annual checkups for women on HRT, the truth is with our NHS under so much strain, we need to take responsibility and ask for what we need rather than waiting.

Secondly, the power of having the right delivery methods and the right dosage.

I have worked with women who have been on HRT but haven’t noticed much of an improvement in symptoms. If that is you, then asking your GP for a test is a great place to start, as even though you might be prescribed a certain dosage, we can all absorb at different levels, so what is good for you might not be so good for someone else.

Body-identical HRT has the same chemical structure as our own body’s hormones, and so is tolerated much better than the older synthetic products, which are made from conjugated oestrogen taken from the urine of pregnant mares. Although these are still considered safe, so if you are currently on them, don’t panic.

Made for Yams Body Identical HRT mimics your body’s own estrogen and is totally natural and easily absorbed, usually through the skin.

Body Identical Estrogen and Progesterone are available on prescription in the UK.

Testosterone, another vital piece of the puzzle, sadly isn’t, which, if you are struggling with energy, libido, and get-up-and-go, is likely the part lacking.

It can be prescribed privately after tests to check your levels, so if you still aren’t feeling right or don’t feel you are peri-menopausal, then maybe the private route might be your next step.

I have some resources below so you can do your own research – this is always a difficult topic because we are dealing with each of our own bio-individuality, so there are many grey areas as not one size fits all.

My advice to you is to do your own research.

This is a good resource: https://thebms.org.uk/publications/tools-for-clinicians/