A Proper and Orderly Way by Joseph J. Collins, RN, ND

A common mistake often seen in patients trying to improve the function of their hormones, whether it is thyroid hormones, sex hormones, or adrenal hormones, is to go directly to bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) before they give the body a chance to restore optimal hormone health on its own.

BHRT is still “replacement” therapy – it assumes the body is not capable of healing itself, and making its own hormones again. Patients inadvertently “give up” on allowing the body to heal itself, and settle for “replacement”. Some of the most compassionate and well educated physicians I know, enable these patients in taking the easy road of “giving up”, and miss the opportunity of allowing the patients’ body to heal itself.

If the body needs more balanced nutrition, better essential fatty acids, and improvement of the digestion system, detoxification systems and the immune system, then skipping any of those steps and jumping right to hormone “replacement”, sets the body up for more problems. When not addressed, the underlying problems that lead to the hormone problems will continue to weaken the foundation on which hormone health must be built.  In many cases, those patients who went directly to bioidentical hormone replacement feel good for a while, then start to have the underlying problems manifest as other symptoms that are more difficult to alleviate because some of their symptoms are obscured by the hormones they are taking.

These unfortunate patients go from one practitioner to the next until they find one that starts to focus on the foundations of health. Once the practitioner has addressed balanced nutrition, essential fatty acids, and gives the patients herbs to help the hormones work better, the BHRT is able to keep them healthy.

There are some people who feel they need hormone replacement as BHRT as soon as possible. They fell that their body cannot recover the ability to make enough hormones. But these patients always do much better if they also address balanced nutrition, essential fatty acids, and use herbs to help the hormones work better. In fact, I have worked with many patients who have gone directly to BHRT and still feel miserable until we address the foundations of health and herbal support.

So the proper an orderly way to approach hormone health is to first build a strong foundation of health.

The Correct Way to Approach Hormone Health

These Hormone Health Guidelines are a series of articles that healthcare professionals and patients can use to discuss the processes involved in restoring optimal hormone health. This sequence of guidelines starts with nutritional and lifestyle changes and gets progressively more advanced so that bioidentical hormone replacement therapy is the last choice.

The bioidentical hormone replacement therapy section is another series of detailed articles, which focuses on the proper use of BHRT. While BHRT is a very helpful therapy, it is important to note that many people find that they can achieve optimal hormone health before they get to the bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). For people who are already on BHRT, and still having symptoms, they will find these hormone health guidelines help them finally achieve optimal hormone health. The foundations of hormone health should be applied before BHRT, but they may also be applied after BHRT.

Next: Learn about the Foundations of Hormone Health