HRT and hormones

Hi all,

Not posted for a long time but I need some advice on hormones, menopause and HRT, I am pleased to say that I'm free from AF but lately I have been plagued with palpitations (possible side effect of combined pill)😩. I will be 43 this year and it's highly likely due to ongoing problems that I will need a hysterectomy😩.

The kind of advice I need as I can't find stuff in the search options is;

Pros and cons of HRT wrt AF, combined or oestrogen only depending on my op,
Has HRT made AF worse or caused new onset AF
Any advice would be brilliant

Hope you are all doing well

Tonigirl xx

Welcome Tonigirl,

BHRT (bio identical hormone replacement therapy) done properly will help not hurt your AFIB control efforts and can have a major impact on overall health for the better. Partnering with a very experienced BHRT/Functional Med doc is a key ingredient for best success (not surprisingly). Unless your issue that might require a possible hysterectomy is more urgent and clear, Id advice to seek out first such a good BHRT MD and there are many who are fellowship trained in BHRT who are also OB-Gyn MDs ...

Followimg that approach can most often help avoid a hysterectomy via rebalancing one's out of whack sex hormones. There are, of course, other good reasons to consider a hysterectomy as well and such a doc who has the added skills of BHRT management will be best able to guide you in that decision and then at least you know you are not just jumping to a hysterectomy solely to control something that can be balanced endogenously with your own hormone rebalancing. Try that first especially if excess monthly bleeding is the main problem and take it from there.

Best wishes,
Shannon

Hi Shannon,

I appreciate the feedback, its good to know that being balanced with bio identical hormones could make a big difference. I have a few problems, a very troublesome fibroid and severe PMDD which is really taking over my life 😩, I had my hormones switched off with GnRH analogues yesterday and have been given add back HRT, I can do this for 6 months to see if it helps and then I can decide if I want a full hysterectomy and ovary removal and then take oestrogen only HRT rather than have a myomectomy and then still have to battle with the PMDD,

Hopeful over the next few months things will be a bit clearer

Best wishes

Toni xx

Hello Toni… It’s so good to see your name here again. Sorry about your problem with fibroids.

I have a lot of experience in that area which I’ll recount briefly here. You can send me a PM if you would like elaboration. When I was about your age, I experienced not only uterine fibroids and polycystic ovaries but also fibrocystic breast disease. While the uterine fibroids caused the PMDD and initially, I was able to tolerate that that longer, the painful breast ‘tumors’ were scary and very uncomfortable. Additionally, I developed goiteroid tissue enlargement in a couple lobes of the thyroid gland.

I saw specialists for each issue and was prescribed hormones for thyroid and the uterine/breast issue.. which made the bleeding worse and the lumpy breasts more painful. Unfortunately, none of the physicians connected the dots to the primary cause which, I later learned from a holistic MD, was an iodine deficiency. Eventually, the heavy bleeding forced a total hysterectomy (because of the PCOS). Prior to that, the fibroid breast tissue masses were removed - amounting to bilateral mastectomy...which is a whole other saga.

Now, keep in mind… this was “back in the dark ages” nearly 40 years ago and before BHRT was common knowledge.
Even today, BHRT is not the first choice in commercial medicine… and neither is suspecting that fibroids in breast
and uterine tissue can be stimulated by iodine deficiency… or in thyroid, for that matter. The thyroid issues remained active and none of the specialists consulted offered solutions…(since, fundamentally, it was the iodine deficiency that they didn’t recognize or even consider).

Then (20 years ago) along comes AF and also, fortunately, a holistic MD, Harvard graduate, set up his practice in my area. I consulted for the AF and he helped initially with the hypoglycemia trigger... and I also then had access to BHRT (which I still use in a minor dose today). However, he didn’t address the iodine deficiency potential. Later on, with a new Functional Medicine MD, I requested the iodine challenge test and I tested low. After starting supplemental iodine, the goiteroid tissue and nodules began to shrink and some disappeared completely so I was able to cut way back and eventually stop the thyroid hormones as well. (I had strenuously resisted the suggestions to have part of the thyroid gland removed since I thought I had already lost "enough parts" due to experimenting).

Since you are such an excellent researcher, Toni, start now with iodine deficiency as related to uterine fibroids and also see if you can find a naturopathic/holistic practitioner that can do the iodine loading test for you. It’s an easy urine collection and may save you from unnecessary surgery. Then later, you can decide to try the BHRT… but look to the core causes, first.

(You can see why I'm such a zealot for 'awareness' and not jumping into surgical procedures at the first suggestion.)

Best to you, Toni…
Jackie