Clean Beauty Matters – Life at Age 54!

Managing my menopause symptoms without hormone therapy.

I never thought I would have to worry about menopause. I am dedicated to working out and eating healthy (with an occasional splurge), but I always felt exercise would prevent me from any hot flashes or weight gain that I could not battle when I went through menopause. I would hear other women talk about their hot flashes, but I just secretly kept thinking to myself that it wouldn't affect me.  

 Well, I was wrong. 

I turned fifty, and nothing changed, but when I turned fifty-one, everything changed. I woke one morning in pure, full-on sweat, nothing like I had ever experienced, even as a runner. I knew that a regular healthcare doctor was monitoring me for when I hit menopause, but I did not realize it would come unexpectedly overnight. It was wild. 

I stayed on birth control pills longer than I originally intended. When I tried to go off them initially, I experienced horrible cramping and felt bloated, like I had twenty pounds of extra weight. So, my doctor at the time kept me on them, and we continued all my regular annual checks (mammogram, Breast MRI, colonoscopy, ultrasound) for my considerable risk for breast and other cancers because of family history. 

When it came time to discuss hormone replacement therapy after stopping birth control, the first thing my doctor suggested was depression medication. I was stunned. I was not depressed about aging and menopause, but I wanted to feel like me again, and I wanted to make sure I did the right thing because of my family history of cancer. She had nothing else to offer. 

This is when I started doing my own research. Thankfully, my neighbor at the time introduced me to her sister, who was a functional nurse practitioner working for a functional doctor in Minneapolis at the time. She spoke highly of her sister Melissa who helped people manage hormones, and I decided to make an appointment. Thus began my journey of working with Minneapolis Integrative Medicine.

 Questions about integrative medicine and hormone therapy.

I asked Melissa to answer a few questions about functional medicine and included more information below. Minneapolis Integrative Medicine is in Wayzata but again you can do your own research on what provider might work best for you depending on your situation. 

What do you do? Why go to a functional nurse? 

Functional nurse practitioners have training in both Western medicine and integrative medicine, which they use to search for the root causes of a person's symptoms. They are licensed to prescribe medications for thyroid, bioidentical hormones, antimicrobial hormones, and others. They see patients from ages 2+ for concerns such as fertility to postmenopausal, IBS symptoms or any gut problem, weight gain, mold toxicity, hair loss, acne, high blood pressure, diabetes and the list goes on. Melissa's favorite things to work with are menopausal hormones and gut health issues. 

What are the steps to help figure out what makes sense to do or use for supplements or to help with problems? 

After the initial screening and history intake, blood work takes place. This is an in-depth blood panel that can identify more than the regular medical checkup blood panel. Once the bloodwork has revealed where we start at for specific levels, the plan is to start trying different supplements or changes in diet and exercise to help with the problems. My initial main goal was to help understand my balance of hormones needed in a healthy manner vs. traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of my cancer history. 

How much does functional integrative medicine cost?

Most functional integrative medicine is not covered by insurance. You can use your Health Savings Account if you have an account. Many of their patients also send in a "superbill" to their insurance and get it covered 100%. Over time, they have now initiated a program that assists to help make payment and cost easier and more successful.

Melissa also stated the following: "A lot of patients have already spent thousands of dollars with their insurance trying to figure out why they do not feel well and used weight loss drugs or procedures or see specialists. By the time they get to them, the goal is to find the root cause and treat it so that they do not need to continue to come back. They typically run more labs, but it takes time to understand what is happening with the hormones. However, it will help them have a better quality of life overall." 

Why integrative medicine made sense for me.

I’ve learned that menopause is the course of life when estrogen and progesterone decline increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and symptoms like hot flashes, mood changes and thinning hair. Melissa and I discussed that, given my risk of breast cancer and other cancers, HRT was not the best course of action. Doing the lab tests to really see what hormones were depleted and at what levels was the course of action we took so we could entertain a safe level of hormone for me to feel myself again.

There is hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and then bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). HRT is concerning because it increases risk of blood clots and cancers. BHRT prevents and is replacing what your body makes naturally, and give you the benefits of those listed above, in addition to relief of any vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, etc. There are many studies differentiating HRT from BHRT.

When someone has a personal history of a certain gene, called the BRCA gene, or personal history of breast cancer, or immediate family history of known BRCA gene or earlier diagnosis of breast cancer, we do not want to use hormone replacement therapy of any kind. They have not experimented on people of this category, however, There are ongoing studies currently trying to disprove any risk. Melissa follows a bioidentical pharmacist researcher who is heading some of these right now. 

I can attest that the regular routine and monitoring of my blood work every 3-6 months with my morning and evening prescriptions immediately took care of my hot flashes and poor sleep. The products I use are improving hair thinning, and my skin has always remained fine with the healthy skincare routine I use (Clean Beauty Matters). The weight gain is slowly getting back to normal now that we have my cortisol under control and have figured out the right balance of my daily blood sugar levels. Baby steps. 

Please keep in mind that everyone's body and lifestyle are different, and what works for me may not be right for you. But I'm very thankful that I've been able to manage my menopause symptoms (hair thinning, weight gain, poor sleep, and hot flashes) without taking another medication. 

It's been a game-changer for me. So, I thought I'd share in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation with fewer options than you'd like.

I hope this information was helpful and I know not everyone who reads my blog is going through this stage of life, but I do know different ones who have had fertility issues or other health concerns, and this might be a place to check out to help along your healthy lifestyle journey. 

Melissa received her 4-year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and then she worked in pediatric ICU and peri anesthesia RN for a while. She eventually got her post graduate degree from Concordia University.