Supplements, vitamins routine for menopausal women

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Vitamin D, there is not a lot of data supporting supplements. They are not regulated. You have no idea what you are actually getting. Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.

lol you have no idea what you are talking about. Like, pharma is “well regulated?” get out of here.

Are you crazy? Yes, pharma is extremely tightly regulated. They can’t even do a clinical trial in the USA without scientific give regulatory review and approval let alone market anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Clark is amazing for this. She doesn't do just blanket recommendations, but actually does testing and makes recommendations based off of the testing.

https://longevitylabhealth.com/

You just linked us to a chiropractor that practices virtually, LOLOL!

She does nutrition / functional medicine virtually (what the OP is asking for).

Whoosh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Vitamin D, there is not a lot of data supporting supplements. They are not regulated. You have no idea what you are actually getting. Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.

lol you have no idea what you are talking about. Like, pharma is “well regulated?” get out of here.

Are you crazy? Yes, pharma is extremely tightly regulated. They can’t even do a clinical trial in the USA without scientific give regulatory review and approval let alone market anything.

DP. Yeah but after approval, many drugs are made in India and they vary. A lot.

We have gutted both the FDA and CBP. So this is what we get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Vitamin D, there is not a lot of data supporting supplements. They are not regulated. You have no idea what you are actually getting. Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.

OP here.
I should be more specific here. I am not looking for HRT. I am not suffering from hot flashes and my doctor didn’t recommend it unless I really need it.
As far as regulating supplements, it’s true, but I’ve learned that turmeric is marvelous for my early arthritis. Now I am looking at collagen peptides for my aging joins. Most traditionally trained doctors here are not big on supplements, but you look at other countries it’s different.
I know that there are providers out there that are more knowledgeable in complementary medicine.
Help me to find them.
Thank you.🙏

I respect that you want to go a non-hormonal route, but hot flashes are only one of the symptoms that women experience in menopause. Others can be sleep and mood problems, anxiety, joint pain, dry skin, more frequent UTIs and vaginal dryness, decreased libido and sexual sensation, difficulty coming to orgasm, disappearing labia (really!!) thinning hair, bone loss, increasing cholesterol. Many of those are really well managed with either localized vaginal estrogen or systemic estrogen, or progesterone or testosterone, or all three.

Whether you “really need it” regarding HRT is your decision to make with your doctor’s advice about risks and benefits. Your doctor doesn’t get to tell you whether your symptoms feel bad enough to you, or not.

It makes me so mad that doctors are so patronizing to women about real symptoms they’re experiencing.

I totally agree with this. It’s not the stone ages - we are outliving our fertility and hormone therapy is not some fringe or last resort idea. Estrogen is anti-inflammatory and a lot of the problems women have in menopause are related to the lack of estrogen. I definitely think there is a role for supplements. But saying you don’t need hormone replacement because you’re not having hot flashes is absolutely ridiculous.

There is fascinating research on the number of menopausal women who are now on antidepressants, osteoporosis medication, blood pressure medication, all kinds of things that actually could be at least partially treated with hormone therapy. For some reason we’re fine with going on every other medication under the sun but replacing hormone is a horrific idea? I’m not saying hormones will cure everything but they definitely help with a lot of the other problems women get treated for once they hit menopause.

At least do some research and get informed.

+1 I'm 58 and outraged by how poorly treated menopause is. I'm a huge fan of Mary Claire Havers, MD. She's an Board certified OB/GYN who specializes in menopause.

Yes, she sells supplements but she is an incredible educator.
https://thepauselife.com/blogs/the-pause-blog

Here's an astounding post about the negative impact on mental health as a result of hormone deficiency.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT83uB7Cn/

[Anonymous]

FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outside Vitamin D, there is not a lot of data supporting supplements. They are not regulated. You have no idea what you are actually getting. Eat a well-balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables.

OP here.
I should be more specific here. I am not looking for HRT. I am not suffering from hot flashes and my doctor didn’t recommend it unless I really need it.
As far as regulating supplements, it’s true, but I’ve learned that turmeric is marvelous for my early arthritis. Now I am looking at collagen peptides for my aging joins. Most traditionally trained doctors here are not big on supplements, but you look at other countries it’s different.
I know that there are providers out there that are more knowledgeable in complementary medicine.
Help me to find them.
Thank you.🙏

I respect that you want to go a non-hormonal route, but hot flashes are only one of the symptoms that women experience in menopause. Others can be sleep and mood problems, anxiety, joint pain, dry skin, more frequent UTIs and vaginal dryness, decreased libido and sexual sensation, difficulty coming to orgasm, disappearing labia (really!!) thinning hair, bone loss, increasing cholesterol. Many of those are really well managed with either localized vaginal estrogen or systemic estrogen, or progesterone or testosterone, or all three.

Whether you “really need it” regarding HRT is your decision to make with your doctor’s advice about risks and benefits. Your doctor doesn’t get to tell you whether your symptoms feel bad enough to you, or not.

It makes me so mad that doctors are so patronizing to women about real symptoms they’re experiencing.

Thank you for this. I think I might get second opinion on HRT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ oh and I use one of the menopause telehealth services - Gennev. They’re all good and will walk you through hormonal and non hormonal options. You can also look at Alloy, Evernow, Midi, ByWinona.

OP: thank you, I appreciate the information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Tell me you aren't in menopause without telling me you aren't in menopause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Cancer, by your definition, is also not a disease because it's your own cells and occurs naturally due to age. So, yeah, let's not treat it either!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Cancer, by your definition, is also not a disease because it's your own cells and occurs naturally due to age. So, yeah, let's not treat it either!

Wrong. Cancer isn’t a normal physiological passage that happens to every single women since the history of creation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Tell me you aren't in menopause without telling me you aren't in menopause.

Actually I have plenty of menopause symptoms. That doesn’t make it a disease. I am not “hormone deficient.” I am aging normally.

Would I accept treatment for sexual symptoms, hair loss, insomnia, mood swings? You bet! But not worth risking my overall health and I don’t accept that women can somehow stay 35 indefinitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Tell me you aren't in menopause without telling me you aren't in menopause.

DP. Don't be so touchy. That PP is correct. Menopause is what our bodies are supposed to do. If you choose to take estrogen, that's a choice but it's not a "natural" therapy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Cancer, by your definition, is also not a disease because it's your own cells and occurs naturally due to age. So, yeah, let's not treat it either!

Wrong. Cancer isn’t a normal physiological passage that happens to every single women since the history of creation.

It is, actually and same with men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FFS menopause is not a disease any more than puberty is. A lot of the resources people spend on unproven woo would be better directed to education and destigmatization. Saying that everyone with menopause is hormone deficient is like saying prepubertal children are hormone deficient. Menopause is a natural lifecycle transition for 100% of women on earth.

Tell me you aren't in menopause without telling me you aren't in menopause.

The prior poster is right that menopause is a naturally occurring event and not a disease. I think of it less like puberty and more like pregnancy. Sure it is natural, but there are still very really and often debilitating symptoms that can be treated with medication and supplements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend doing some research before finding a provider - there are a lot of charlatans in this area. For example, there’s no need to test hormone levels, let alone do regular testing of them. HRT does not actually replace hormones, but is used to treat symptoms. Your hormone levels are not that useful because that doesn’t account for how well your hormone receptors are functioning. Also, most physicians will give you bad advice about vitamins, telling you that you don’t need them because your levels are “normal” but the fact is that menopausal women function better with higher levels of D and iron, for example. But if you go to a naturopath, they will often try to sell you high priced supplements, which can be sketchy.

Ah, ok, you got your MD from where?

As a woman with PCOS I absolutely need my hormones tested regularly. Take your BS and go somewhere else.

Not every woman has PCOS. Think PP was speaking more generally about women going through menopause.

I never understand why posters such as yourself, who have a specific condition, come out guns blazing in a post like this. You could have simply said, in a nice way, that an exception to the PPs recommendation would be woman with PCOS. Instead, you have to go nasty. People like you ruin threads where people are nicely trying to exchange information. It is possible to educate without being a jerk about it.

Jeez.