Bioidentical Hormone Therapy is Cheaper than a Heart Attack
I am 51 years old and I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. Looking back, it was largely because of my diet. I had blood work done about a year ago and my testosterone levels were very low. I know my dad had a problem with erectile dysfunction and doctors also attributed his condition to diet. I started researching testosterone deficiencies on the internet and found BodyLogicMD. I waited a few months before making a decision, because I don't like spending money on non-urgent health issues.
As time went on, I continued to feel worse and worse. I knew I had to get help. I felt like I was dying. Most food I ate was pulling me down. I woke up tired, my calve muscles would spasm at night and wake me up, my vision was getting worse and worse, I was craving water more and more, I was craving sugar, I was hungry most of the time. I was starting to get scared because my health deteriorating so quickly. The week my symptoms started to peak was the same week I was scheduled to see Dr. Travis Deuson of BodyLogicMD of Encino. I felt hopeful because I knew he could help me. I have become a diabetic because of my poor diet. He prescribed six supplements. I have never been one to take pills, but I was in dire need and more than willing to do whatever it takes to get my health back on track.
He also suggested that I read The Perfect 10 Diet by Dr. Michael Aziz. This book is the key to making this process work. It educated me on how food effects the production of hormones in our body. I went out and bought it immediately. I changed my diet that day. Within two days I already had more energy. Within four days I felt like a new person. I had tons of energy, I woke up feeling alive. I did not crave sugar and was not hungry, the leg cramps stopped, I felt like living and enjoying life again. My vision continued to be blurry and was poor. Dr. Deuson suggested checking my blood sugar. Sure enough it was 285, should be about 110. I went to another local doctor and obtained another prescription to help lower this reading. For now I will need glasses. I joined a gym to help lower my blood sugar levels naturally though exercise. It takes a few weeks to adjust our diet and take the supplements, but if we are determined to get well, we can. This is cheaper that a heart attack, plus I feel great!
I also appreciate the knowledge of Dr. Deuson.
Thank you very much,
Brian B., Santa Barbara, CA
Fingers crossed
Okay, okay. So my wife won the argument regarding hormones. I finally made an appointment to see a bioidentical hormone doctor. They will be sending me a saliva kit by mail; which sounds anything but pleasant; like anyone about to take a saliva test, I did some Googling and they actually have a video on how to do it! From what I have read saliva tests are actually very accurate for testing levels of hormones, which blood testing can’t accomplish. I guess this is all part of the benefit of going to a bioidentical hormones specialist; my annual exams have never included a saliva test, makes you wonder.
My appointment is practically a month from now, giving me plenty of time to continue my research. I have already done some preliminary research and it seems that balancing male hormones isn’t all that difficult. It is actually easier to deal with men and their hormones than women; but who doubted that? Men are simple and women well, they are women. I might actually be getting excited at the idea that I could return to some version of my former self. It would be very nice to have the energy to do something that doesn’t involve just sitting behind my computer screen.
I want to be more active in my son’s life and enjoy the time with my wife. It seems that lately I don’t enjoy much of anything at all.
-Rudy
And it begins…
I've been on the fence about using bioidentical hormones for a few months now - ever since I read about them in a NY Times article earlier this year. I recently had a consultation with a doctor who specializes in bioidentical hormone therapy here in Arizona. It was a bit of a drive, but well worth it. I feel like, even if I don't get the results I'm looking for, I still learned a lot about how the body works and what I can be doing to make myself healthier.
My doctor discussed how diet and excercise - or lack thereof - can affect hormones and recommended that I make some changes now, to spare myself a lot of health issues later on in life. I've been searching for a way to reinvent myself and I think I've found in with my new doctor. In addition to the bioidentical hormones, I'm also taking supplements now - I always thought that vitamins were for kids, but apparently they work wonders for adults too.
I've only been using the bioidenticals for 3 days and I haven't noticed any significant changes, although I'm definitely more optimistic than I was before I started treatment. I feel like now I have something to look forward to. I can't wait to start seeing some progress - I've read other bloggers' accounts of treatment and some have noticed results in the first few weeks!
I'll definitely drop in again soon to give an update.
By the way, this is a great site. It's good for men to talk about this stuff, becuase too many men are in the dark on the whole male menopause issue.
-Jay
What the hell happened to me?
I remember when I was 23 years old. Not a care in the world. Sure I had my responsibilities, but I was in my prime. After highschool, I bulked out, started eating better, exercised more often and felt a whole lot better about myself because of it. Starting in my early 30's, I began gaining weight - and fast. My eating habits didn't change and at the time, I was still working out 3 times a week. By the time I hit 40, I was overweight, I rarely exercised and in addition not being able to get it up, I was losing my hair. Needless to say, my confidence was at all time low. Over the past four years I've learned to live with the "new" me - the old me. I've accepted that my body wasn't built to last forever and most of it won't. I just didn't think that I would be an old man so soon.
I recently read an article in Esquire magazine that featured a bioidentical hormones doctor named Kenneth Varano. According to Dr. Varano, male menopause IS real and medically termed "andropause." He also discusses how bioidentical hormone therapy can help men with a lot of the symptoms I've been experiencing. Have any men out there had any true success with bioidentical hormones?
I appreciate any advice I can get!
-Roger
Report and Review of My Progress
I get a gold star or gold medal, as it were, for making wonderful progress on my BodyLogicMD program. Dr. Jennifer Landa and I just talked about my health and hormone status. I had the usual blood work-up done and it showed that my body is working far better than I expected. My blood sugar is down. My testosterone is up – as it should be (needs some minor adjustment with new supplements). As I reported in an earlier blog, I am not taking prescription medications anymore. My libido is good. Blood count, liver function, sodium and calcium are all within normal range. I feel so much better – from a depression level of about 7 or 8 (on a scale of 10; with 10 the worst) now more like a 2 or 3 and holding steady. I have lost between 8 and 10 lbs, depending on which scale I use. That’s very rewarding and mostly due to limited eating – only the good things I should eat – and exercise (which I need to do more of). My goal over the next few months is to lose at least one pound per month. I think that's doable even though I am going on vacation for 10 days in April.
Why would I not love the program! I know it works and my primary physician even agrees that it does.
Loving it.
Unhealthy: How Do You Know?
When you have gotten better or healthy again after being sick, have you ever thought, “I didn’t know how sick I was until now?” That has happened to me many times.
It occurred to me today that, after about nine weeks on the BodyLogicMD bioidentical hormones/nutritional-supplement program, I feel so much better. I didn’t know how unhealthy I was. How depressed I have been.
I know about depression. For one thing, I worked for the National Mental Health Association for eight years and I have an undergrad degree in psychology. My father had bouts of depression, albeit never diagnosed as such, for most of his life after being discharged from World War II. (Now in his 90s, he is in a state of dementia, so awareness of depression isn’t there.) I have often fought mild depression as well.
And my andropause (MANopause) seemed to have magnified it. As I reported before, my cortisol (stress hormone) tests showed I had almost no cortisol by 10:30 a.m. each day! (If I hadn’t been so depressed, I would have been manic about this terrible news.) Low cortisol is often a symptom of MANopause.
Well, today I can tell you I feel beyond that issue. I know how depressed I was, now that I am not depressed anymore.
How about you? How are you feeling? Can you really tell how “sick” you are until you make an effort to do something about it and get better?
Physical Exam Report – I’m a Go!
Recently I visited my primary physician. As I reported to you before, I had stopped all of the prescription drugs she had given me as I didn’t need two of the three (for reflux), and I wanted to see if my cholesterol and triglycerides would remain low as they did for the BodyLogicMD tests. If so, I could continue not taking the statin. Dr. Holly Marshall was fine with my not taking the drugs, as the levels were low according to the results of a recent blood test.
My bioidentical hormones doctor Dr. Landa had suggested I have a bone scan as the BodyLogicMD test results indicated I might have a low bone density level. She was right to be concerned, as recent tests showed my bone density was borderline osteoporosis. So, my primary physician gave me a prescription for the Fosomax once-a-week pill.
At my physical exam with Dr. Marshall, I was disappointed that my body weight loss wasn’t greater. Therefore, I am going to get back to a much more regular weekly gym and exercise routine. Even though my belly fat is less – by measure of my belt position – I must increase resistance exercises to transform more fat into muscle tissue.
I am good to go to a new level over the next three months. I’ll keep you posted.
Testosterone Testimonial
We have placed a really well-thought-out article (a letter to Roanoke Times) on this blog for you to read. It’s about TRT (testosterone replacement therapy). The author is using bioidentical hormones to balance testosterone levels.
Men, you should read this article. It clearly argues that there is a difference, not made clear by many physicians or researchers, between bioidentical and synthetic hormones used in replacement. Most, if not all, problems referred to in the medical and research literature (as this testimonial notes) occur in reference to synthetic products.
Read this article. For my part, I feel it truly reflects my issues and my subsequent resolution of many of them. Just today my primary physician gave me a full physical exam (including extensive blood testing) and everything was good. So good I am able to STOP taking all of the prescription medications she had previously prescribed. (If you don’t understand all of the technical references in the article, not to worry. You will find this read reassuring.)
Here's what Michael McCarty – patient of Dr. Heidi Archer of BodyLogicMD of Vail and Potomac Falls had to say:
"I went to my family doctor, then to a urologist and finally an endocrinologist. I questioned my levels of hormones. In all cases they said, diet and exercise was all I needed. All of them wanted to mask my real problem by prescribing me medications for my ‘symptoms”. They wanted me on medicine for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, anxiety and erectile dysfunction. That’s five different medications! I refused to put those toxins in my body. The side effects are many which usually lead to more medication. So, being desperate and knowing what the real problem was, I went to see a doctor from BodyLogicMD, Dr. Heidi Archer. She is in Potomac Falls, VA. The doctors at BodyLogicMD are expertly trained in hormone replacement therapy. Not only that they understand nutrition and exercise. They believe in taking nutritional supplements. They are on the cutting edge of the aging human. Is it expensive? Not at all. I feel better now than at age 25!..."
It’s American Heart Month
A few weeks ago I decided to stop taking my low-dosage prescribed statin — a medication for cholesterol and triglycerides — without asking my primary physician. (I’ll know next week if my cholesterol level is below normal or not, as I have an appointment with my primary.) When I had my test for the BodyLogicMD bioidentical hormones program, my cholesterol was way low — too low. Dr. Landa pointed out what I already knew: low cholesterol is as bad as high. The body actually needs the “fat” in the diet to help keep the brain functioning optimally. Besides the fact that levels can be kept low with exercise and diet — the best way to control cholesterol — the statin medication makes me feel bad. My thinking is fuzzy, and I have strange muscle aches (for which I take QC-10). So, I’m taking a supplement to ward off the side effects of another medication. Bad.
What the heart likes is not only a good diet but regular exercise — aerobic is the best. So if you’re like me, what is “good aerobic exercise”? Well, from what I have been able to gather, it’s 30 minutes of treadmill with your heart at 130+ beats per minute.
So, take heart, men. Do it, lose weight, feel better, look better and, likely, live longer.
Why not????
New test to show my progress on bioidentical hormones
I am about to find out what progress I have made in my bioidentical hormones program to build a healthier body and mind. Let me give you some observations as I experience it and some thoughts I have:
- Overall, I feel better
- I have lost 7 to 8 lbs – I’m moving the belt in the opposite direction than before
- I have stopped taking prescription medication for acid reflux – (two meds)
- I am exercising more – although I had to stop for two weeks due to illness
- I am hoping I can stop taking a medication for high cholesterol because it really makes me feel bad when I take it – I have stopped for a few days and notice the difference
- Libido is better
- Stress hormone (cortisol), I suspect, hasn’t changed that much. It seems I have fewer days of fatigue in the afternoon, but not enough
- I need to do more free-weight lifting exercise to try and build up muscle and get more of my man-belly to turn to good use
- Amazing enough, I feel I look better – not just the weight reduction but “brighter” looking
- I worry about the slowdown in weight reduction – that may be my impatience. I still have at least 10 lbs to lose.
We’ll see what the blood tests show. There are about twelve of them -- when I get blood drawn about halfway through the process I think I’ll have no blood left. I am hoping the testosterone will be increased. I am happy with the diet in that eliminating gluten, dairy and red meat makes my digestion far better – eliminating my irritable bowel symptoms.
No doubt progress has been made. Will likely have to do this for the rest of my life. I still need to get used to it, however.