waking jonas is dealing with that outfit.

a cat to catch the rat, a dog to catch the cat

i have too many beloved women in my life who have been hormonally imbalanced & suffered through various treatments that have done nothing but wreak havoc on their bodies.

i hear about various appointments and follow-ups to “see what adjustments can be made,” and it just makes me upset. what exactly is being treated? the side effects make life more difficult than before they went into treatment. what ever happened to the idea that our bodies are [fantastic] self-regulating machines? pills pills shots pills.

why isn’t there a rush to shoot men full of hormones? well, if you pump men full of extra testosterone you they know that they get an angry highly-strung, half-crazed machine but apparently that logic doesn’t translate to estrogen therapy.

ugh.

some stuff

well. i assume you’re talking about estrogen therapy in response to menopause because that’s what that link discusses.

men who have testosterone deficiencies can and do get testosterone replacement therapy as well.

http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr10-01-04.cfm

also, i may be wrong here, but my understanding is that women undergo a drastic reduction in estrogen production around age 50 or so, while men do a gradual decline starting from age 30. if men also had an abrupt drop in levels, there’d probably be more male hormone therapy too.

i’m not sure the double standard you’re seeing really exists or, if it exists, that it’s unwarranted.

the “drastic” decline around 50 is very natural. what i don’t get it that they are treating as if it wasn’t.

most of the documentation on HT i found was regarding menopause however i have known women who received hormone (synthetic) progestin treatment even though they aren’t menopausal. the effect is similar.

i imagine they’re treating it because the “natural” process is pretty uncomfortable for some women.

heart attacks are “natural” as well.

menopause is not in the same category as a heart attack, it is on the same category as puberty.

Yes, Tessa… BUT! That middle-aged analog of puberty can wreck some relationships. Some couples are willing to try anything to fix the problems between them.

Also, some people in puberty are given antidepressants too. Not everything that is natural is good. And definitely not good for every person going through it.

Nilda and I were lucky that her menopause was very gradual. It started early, in her 40s, and didn’t really negatively impact her mood. Some poor women just go looney and need and ASK for the help. Don’t blame it on the medical profession if they try to understand and accomodate what their patients tell them is a severe problem.

Granted, sometimes prescribing medicine is reflexive. That is just wrong. But when done to see if it can help people get through difficulty in their lives, it is good to the extent that it helps and that the doctor is trying to help.

All that said, I’m more in “the body is designed to work this way” camp as you are. Sometimes we just need a little help.

Knowamsayin?

Joe
An “old person”