From thinking to action - Newson Health

 So after watching Trinny and Louise Newson and learning there could be advantages to taking HRT during perimenopause. I went to the Menopause Doctor website. Which is absolutely amazing along with her Balance app.  You can pretty much look up anything on here and get an answer. What I have found completely invaluable is listening to the podcasts under the reference section. There are enough nerdy scientific ones to help me make my decision and then enough normal people discussing their symptoms and making me realise that Brain Fog was a thing (I wasn't going mad)! and a big one and you didn't have to have hot flushes. There are others as well Meg Matthews has a website and also Menopause Matters.

It was somewhere around November 2020 I contacted her clinic Newson Health to book an appointment. Either rightly or wrongly I went straight to her clinic privately. Firstly, because from what I had gathered and another friends experience my NHS GP would not humour me at all with HRT before Menopause. Secondly, I currently had the money to spend on this and I should take advantage while I could!  I then got an email saying there was currently up to 3 month waiting list to even speak to someone to get an appointment. When that happened I then waited another month before I got the remote appointment with one of the Doctors at her clinic.

As mentioned in my brain fog post. By the time my appointment arrived in March 2021 I was feeling OK.  Brain fog had been better, no PMT, eyes had been OK. Should I cancel?  I had already done enough research to make my mind up and already decided that I was probably going to be on it for the rest of my natural life. I wanted to leave it as long as possible.

Before the call you complete a medical questionnaire and menopause symptoms checklist. This is how they initially evaluate. Blood test not being that helpful as hormones in the blood fluctuate all the time. You could have been suffering for months and then like me have the blood test in that brief period of time after a splurt (technical term) of Oestrogen and all would look fine. I believe this checklist is also on her website and Balance app.

To be honest its super nice to have a doctor to yourself for 45 minutes and just talk about you. We talked over my symptoms brain fog, hair loss, dry eyes, PMT, night sweats. Period cycle now longer and heavier, but quicker. Nothing significant in my medical history. My maternal grandmother became mentally very unwell about the time of her menopause and this was to remain for the rest of her life (it was probably there before). Weight, height, smears, screening, etc, etc.

She confirmed I was experiencing Perimenopause and it was common to have symptoms for months and for them to go again, then come back due to the depleting oestrogen stocks.

She explained there is plenty of evidence that the earlier you start HRT, the lower the future risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. We discussed the stats regarding Breast Cancer and how its considerably lower taking HRT than if you drink two glasses of wine a day or are overweight.  Current guidelines clearly state that a majority of women who start HRT under the age of 60, the benefits clearly outweigh any negatives. The micronised progesterone I would take does seem to have an even lower risk of breast cancer compared to older types.

The Estradiol range of Oestrogen is body identical and made from yams. Taking this transdermally (spray, gel, patch) is not associated with any risk of blood clots and the dose is more easily changed. Oestrogen taken alone causes the womb lining to thicken and its therefore important to take progesterone two weeks out of the four.

As I seemed quite.... research based she suggested I read Oestrogen Matters by Dr Avrum Bluming (I did and it is super interesting)

We then discussed what I would like to take if I did want to take it. I decided on the spray and I would need to get in touch within the next 8 weeks to get the prescription which would all cost about £150 for 3 months worth.

The outcome was... I was sold but just didn't want to commit myself to taking something for the rest of my life yet when my symptoms were currently so mild. She agreed but laughed and said my next oestrogen slump I would be on the phone.

I did more research, read the book, listened to more podcasts and waited. The below link pretty much covers everything.

https://www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/menopause/the-difference-between-body-identical-and-bioidentical-hormones



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