There are plenty of ways to protect yourself from xenoestrogens and estrogen dominance!
Following on from yesterday’s post where I explained what xenoestrogens are (environmental estrogens) and how they are related to breast cancer and a whole host of other diseases (including diabetes, uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breast disease, ovarian cysts, menstrual irregularities such as heavy bleeding and cramps, menopausal symptoms, and cervical cancer), today I’d like to share with you some ideas on how to protect yourself from them. First, a refresher on where xenoestrogens come from:
The Most Common Sources of Xenoestrogens
- commercially raised meat (full of antibiotics and synthetic hormones)
- canned foods
- plastics, plastic food wraps
- styrofoam cups (especially when used with boiling hot liquids)
- industrial wastes
- chlorinated water
- paints, solvents, lacquers
- most personal care products & cosmetics (unless organic)
- pesticides and herbicides
- car exhaust and pollution
- birth control pills and spermicide
- household detergents and cleaners
- all artificial scents (like aerosol room deodorants)
- air fresheners, perfumes
Keep in mind that this is probably only a partial list! These are just the best known xenoestrogens.
25 of the Best Ways to Protect Yourself from Xenoestrogens
- Find Out Your Hormone Levels - I believe this should come first. Find out what your levels are (there are test kits available from this reputable site) and supplement with progesterone if needed.
- Diet – ensure you are getting lots of fresh whole (and organic) foods in your diet every day. Whole foods support your body’s natural ability to balance itself, and provide essential nutrients your body needs to thrive. Make sure your diet includes abundant brightly colored vegetables and fruits, hormone free meats, and healthy fats including cold pressed olive oil, coconut oil, and fish oil (from deep seas that are unpolluted). Limit or avoid refined foods like white sugar and flour, as these foods deplete the body of essential nutrients.
- Eat Phytoestrogens – (plant estrogens) because plant-based estrogen compounds bind to the same estrogen receptor sites on cells that xenoestrogens do. When a receptor site is already occupied by a phytoestrogen, xenoestrogens cannot attach to it. The great thing about phytoestrogens is that they are generally much weaker in their estrogenic effects than xenoestrogens, or even the body’s more potent natural estrogens. So phytoestrogens help to protect the body against excessive estrogen stimulation by binding receptor sites against more potent xenoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are found in soy, all legumes, whole grains, flax seed, and dark green leafy vegetables.
- Stress Management – stress directly affects your hormones. When stress is chronically high, hormones become out of balance. Therefore, finding ways to de-stress every day are a must. Take a little time each day to breath deep, exercise, and find ways to relax like yoga, meditation and walking.
- Eat Organic or Free Range – meats, poultry, eggs, dairy products, fruits and vegetables (whenever you can). I still believe that if you can’t get something organic and you’re really craving it – to me that’s a sign your body needs that food. Buy it and be really OCD about washing it to remove any traces of pesticide from it. Use a good quality fruit & vegetable wash.
- Learn How to Garden Organically – avoid all pesticides, herbicides, and fungicide.
- Filter Your Shower Water – have a good water filter for your source of water to protect yourself from organochlorines in our water. See Useful Links.
- Avoid Plastic Goods – they leach into your food and into the environment (especially don’t leave a plastic bottle of water in the sun!). Use glass, ceramic or stainless steel whenever possible to store food.
- Replace Plastic Wrap on meats and other foods as soon as you get home from the store with plastic wrap that doesn’t have DEHA in it.
- Beware of the Microwave – do not microwave food in plastic containers, and especially avoid the use of plastic wrap to cover food for microwaving. I only use my microwave for those flaxseed heat packs.
- Avoid Teflon and Other Non-Stick Cookware – titanium or cast iron are better alternatives.
- Don’t Use Fabric Softeners – it puts petrochemicals right on your skin.
- Use Safe Cleaning Products – go for these green products with less chemicals.
- Use Safe Body Products – especially toothpaste! You’re putting this into your mouth and your children’s mouths. You don’t need fluoride, it’s a myth! Use these safe products instead.
- Avoid Suncreams and Cosmetics That Have Toxic Chemicals - the cheaper they are, the more toxic chemicals they have in them. Use safe, organic products.
- Avoid Nail Polish and Nail Polish Removers
- Avoid Perfumes and Use Essential Oils Instead – most perfumes are petrochemically based. Essential oils smell wonderful and won’t give you a headache like some perfumes can.
- Avoid Birth Control Pills and Lubricants Found in Many Condoms and Diaphragm Gels
- If You Get New Carpet Installed, Live Somewhere Else For a Few Days – it gives off noxious fumes, so does new furniture.
- Avoid X-rays As Much As Possible
- Avoid Synthetic Flea Shampoos, Flea Collars, and Flea Pesticides for your pets and home.
- Avoid Synthetic Air Fresheners – instead put a few drops of essential oils into a spray mist bottle filled with distilled water. Smells better, works well, cheaper and safer.
- Avoid Canned Foods – here in the USA, over 85% of tin cans are lined with bisphenol-A (BPA) to reduce the metallic taste that can be present in canned foods. Unfortunately, BPA is a known xenoestrogen that leaches when exposed to heat, such as the sterilization process some cans undergo, or acid (and tomatoes are acidic).
- Avoid Anything Containing Red Food Dye – FD&C Red No. 3, a common food dye (erythrosine) is a known xenoestrogen.
- Find Non-Toxic Paints – look for companies that make interior paints that are formaldehyde free, emit minimal VOC’s, and contain additional sealing properties that reduce outgassing.
Unfortunately, because these compounds are so ubiquitous in our environment, no article of this length could possibly be as comprehensive as I’d like it to be. I would encourage you to read further on the subject and educate yourself, your family, and friends. In the end, voting with your pocketbook and spreading information to enable others to do the same is likely to be the single most important thing you can do to help slow the spread of estrogen dominance and its accompanying health problems.
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What are Xenoestrogens? And What’s All This About Estrogen Dominance?
Xenoestrogens are environmental estrogens and they are more abundant than you think. Most natural therapists believe that xenoestrogens play a huge part in the breast cancer epidemic we are currently experiencing.
Xenoestrogens disrupt our endocrine (hormonal) systems. Estrogen, like every hormone naturally produced by the body, is a much needed chemical messenger that transports a signal from one cell to another. The problem with xenoestrogens is that they mimic the effects of estrogen and compromise normal hormone function.
Combined with the estrogen naturally produced by the body, these foreign chemicals create an excess of estrogen (which has come to be known as “estrogen dominance”).
Since we know that breast cancer develops in the presence of estrogen maintained over a prolonged period of time, this puts both women and men at risk for developing the disease.
Research shows that xenoestrogens are linked to high rates of breast cancer, and also to endometriosis, an unusually early onset of puberty, infertility, and miscarriages.
In men, xenoestrogens are believed to contribute to decreased sperm counts, and prostate and testicular cancers.
Other health problems such as thyroid disorders, diabetes, and behavioral abnormalities in children, may also be linked to xenoestrogens interfering with the estrogens naturally produced by the body.
Because there are so many xenoestrogens in our cleaning products and gardening chemicals (which eventually get into the water supply), we are now finding that the reproductive systems of fish and amphibians have been affected.
Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen dominance occurs when the ratio of estrogen to progesterone sways too much one way or another. One of the most common patterns with estrogen dominance is to see an excess of estrogen in relation to progesterone, which is often too low. Estrogen and progesterone work together like a system of checks and balances to achieve hormonal balance in both men and women.
Estrogen is an active hormone that is actually able to increase the production of its own receptors. It stimulates tissue to grow. When left unchecked (due to inadequate progesterone levels), it can stimulate tissue to grow inappropriately, especially in the breast.
How to Protect Yourself
Take a close look at the products you use on a daily basis – begin by checking the ingredients in your cleaning products (if they don’t have a list of ingredients, try to find them on-line), your personal care products like shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, facial care products, deodorants, etc. because this is where many xenoestrogens are commonly found. Doesn’t that make you mad?
Reduce your exposure to chlorine by using a shower head filter that filters out chlorine. Choose unbleached products.
Limit your use of plastics, especially drinking from plastic water bottles and microwaving in plastic containers.
Learn to identify and minimize as many xenoestrogens as possible.
Chemicals That Have Estrogenic Effects
- Alkylphenol
- Atrazine (weed killer)
- 4-Methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) (sunscreen lotions)
- Benzyl Benzoate (fragrance ingredient, artificial flavor, preservative, and solvent)
- Butylated hydroxyanisole / BHA (food preservative)
- Bisphenol A (monomer for polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resin; antioxidant in plasticizers)
- Chlorine and chlorine by-products
- Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (one of the breakdown products of DDT)
- Dieldrin (insecticide)
- Dimethicone (a plasticizer used in many products)
- DDT (insecticide)
- Endosulfan (insecticide)
- Erythrosine / FD&C Red No. 3
- Ethinylestradiol (combined oral contraceptive pill)
- Heptachlor (insecticide)
- Lindane / hexachlorocyclohexane (insecticide)
- Metalloestrogens (a class of inorganic xenoestrogens)
- Methoxychlor (insecticide)
- Nonylphenol and derivatives (industrial surfactants; emulsifiers for emulsion polymerization; laboratory detergents; pesticides)
- Pentachlorophenol (general biocide and wood preservative)
- Polychlorinated biphenyls / PCBs (in electrical oils, lubricants, adhesives, paints)
- Parabens (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben commonly used as preservatives in personal care products)
- Phenosulfothiazine (a red dye)
- Phthalates (plasticizers)
- DEHP (plasticizer for PVC)
- Propyl gallate
- Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (a foaming agent used in shampoos and toothpastes)
- Sodium Laureth Sulphate ( “ )
That’s a big long list of baddies and it’s not even a complete list! For a truly comprehensive database of product ingredients, go to: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ . There you can look up the products you are using and see how they rate for safety.
Tomorrow I’ll provide you with a list of things you can do to limit your personal exposure (and also our environment) to xenoestrogens.
Sources:
http://www.energeticnutrition.com/vitalzym/estrogen_dominance.html#reading
http://www.johnleemd.com/store/breast_cancer.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen
http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2012sunscreen/
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Photo courtesy of rgbstock.com and lusi
Dr John Lee Advocated Progesterone
Dr John Lee, a rather amazing renegade Harvard educated doctor, internationally acknowledged as a pioneer and expert in the study and use of the hormone progesterone, and on the subject of hormone replacement therapy for women, absolutely hated tamoxifen, a well known breast cancer drug.
He stated “In my opinion, progesterone alone opposes the undesirable effects of estrogen very effectively, and if oncologists understood this they would be prescribing progesterone for their breast cancer patients instead of tamoxifen and Femara.“
Dr Lee was worried about the harmful side effects of tamoxifen and said that it doesn’t address the underlying issues of DNA damage and lack of progesterone, which he felt were some of the root causes of breast cancer. In 2002, Dr Lee co-wrote “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer – How Hormone Balance Can Help Save Your Life“, along with David Zava, Ph.D. and Virginia Hopkins.
Partly based on what I read in this book, I decided against Tamoxifen. I just wasn’t willing to risk the side effects.
Instead, Dr Lee advocated hormone balancing and treating imbalances with natural progesterone rather than synthetic estrogen (which you won’t be given anyway if you’ve had breast cancer).
An Interesting 2001 Study
There was an interesting article on Dr Lee’s website (johnleemd.com) where he discussed the results of a study done in 2001:
“The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center released study results in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (July 2001) showing that women taking tamoxifen for treatment of first breast cancer are more likely to develop estrogen receptor-negative tumors in the other breast. These tumors are particularly aggressive and difficult to treat with conventional medicine.
The study looked at 9,000 women who survived breast cancer, about half of whom were being treated with tamoxifen. Some 27 percent of the tamoxifen group had estrogen receptor-negative tumors in the other breast, while only 4 percent of the tamoxifen-free group developed estrogen-negative tumors.
It’s frustrating to me that this huge study didn’t look more closely at the relationship between progesterone receptors and tamoxifen. Estrogen and progesterone are dependent upon each other for keeping their respective receptors active. In other words, estrogen is needed to maintain progesterone receptors, and progesterone is needed to maintain estrogen receptors. Thus, a drug like tamoxifen that blocks estrogen would be likely to severely down-regulate progesterone receptors, which would in turn down-regulate estrogen receptors, which would of course create a hormone receptor-negative milieu in the breasts.
The researchers said that this study should not discourage women from using tamoxifen, but to me it’s just one more reason to run from it. Tamoxifen also increases the risk of uterine cancer, blood clots and eye problems, and its benefits don’t last beyond about three to five years.“
In Memoriam
Dr Lee passed away in 2003 but his work lives on. From his website: “Dr. Lee s colleagues, family, and friends will carry on his legacy, as will the millions of others whose lives he touched over the years. We know that many of you will write, asking What can we do? The most meaningful way to remember John R. Lee, M.D. and carry on his work is to educate others, one-to-one, and give them the gift of optimal health, as he gave us.“
That’s what I’m doing here – my best to educate others.
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Fabulous After Latissimus Dorsi Flap Breast Reconstruction
If you’ve just had a breast reconstruction and your surgeon utilized the Latissimus Dorsi Flap procedure, you’ll want to know about this helpful yoga position called Balasana.
Once your incisions have healed, the drains have been removed, you are no longer sore and your surgeon says it’s okay, I recommend doing this yoga position just as soon as you can manage it.
Click here to see the video (skip the ad!).
Don’t worry if you can’t get into the position initially, it’s most likely something you can work towards. Just go as far as is comfortable for you on the day.
Why To Do It!
While this type of breast reconstruction surgery can be wonderful and give you back your figure, it can provide problems.
This surgery can really curtail your range of motion on the affected side if you are not proactive.
I found this particular yoga position so beneficial because it’s gentle, it really helped with my range of motion, it cuts down on adhesions (which can be caused by the newly formed uniting tissues – adhesions can block circulation and cause pain, limited movement, and inflammation) and really helps you to reclaim your body.
I also found deep tissue massage to be extremely beneficial.
How Often?
Do this yoga position at least 5 times a week! It doesn’t take long, and it really does help so much. May it be the beginning of a wonderful new relationship between you and yoga.
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey.
Today’s quote comes from Michael Lerner, Ph.D. in the book, Breast Cancer – Beyond Convention, The World’s Foremost Authorities on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Offer Advice on Healing.
“…if you are fortunate, a cancer diagnosis can be a teachable moment in your life. That moment can be a time when, if you are able to open up to the possibilities, the creative powers within you are uniquely ready to come to the surface to assist you in facing both the tremendous challenges and the possibilities of living through this very difficult experience.”
I found this to be an amazing book, full of thought-provoking and life-altering material. If you’d like a copy of it, you can click on the link to order it.
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey.
To Take Tamoxifen or Not…. That is the Question
I wanted to share with you this great article I read today about Vicky Sewart, a 4-year breast cancer survivor who has rejected her oncologist’s advice to take Tamoxifen in favor of a special diet.
Here’s a link to that article. It’s a great article, I hope you’ll read it.
I did exactly the same thing 7 years ago. It’s nice to have company.
I’m not passing any judgment whatsoever on those who have decided to take Tamoxifen, I just know that for myself and my body it wasn’t the right thing to do. I wasn’t willing to risk any of the side effects that the drug engenders, there are too many of them.
This may not be a good course of action for everyone, I’m not saying that either. My whole desire here is just to inform – to let you know that in some cases doctors don’t know everything there is to know about the healing power of certain nutrients in our food.
My Biggest Hope
My biggest hope is that the field of oncology will begin to pay attention to and take on some of the wisdom that natural medicine has to offer.
I loved the part of the article that stated “Her experience will now form part of an academic study into how lifestyle can affect the body’s response to cancer.” There are lots of these studies being done already.
Just go to the pubmed.gov website and put the words “turmeric cancer” in the search field and you’ll get 20 studies that say curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) is effective against all kinds of cancer cells.
The most interesting and newest study just published on June 14, 2012 says “The findings indicate that curcumin is of potential value for the chemoprevention of breast cancer, especially in breast cancer with Skp2/Her2 overexpression.“ Cycle arrest and apoptosis in MDA-MB-231/Her2 cells induced by Curcumin, Sun SH, Huang HC, Huang C, Lin JK, Eur J Pharmacol. 2012 Jun 14. [Epub ahead of print].
Come on, oncologists. Your way isn’t the only way. Get with the program!
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Cancer and Caregiving: How to Cope
Written by Guest Author: Faith Franz researches and writes about health-related issues for the Mesothelioma Center.
A terminal cancer diagnosis can be tough to cope with, but sometimes, patients and their families have a harder time coping with the realities of the disease.
For many patients, cancer symptoms make it difficult to maintain the standard of life they enjoyed before their diagnosis. This is especially common in patients with aggressive, highly symptomatic cancers such as mesothelioma, whose complications make it difficult to handle daily chores. For these patients, it may be best to reach out to a caregiver for help with daily activities.
This can be extremely difficult to cope with – especially for patients who are used to a high level of independence. Coping can also be difficult for caregivers who have to balance their new responsibilities with their existing jobs and personal lives. However, despite the challenges, cancer patients and caregivers can smoothly transition to their new roles with the help of healthy coping mechanisms.
If You are Providing the Care:
Caregivers often fall into a trap of spending so much time taking care of their loved one that they forget to take care of themselves. Even though this may seem well-intentioned, it ultimately makes things harder on the caregiver.
If you are becoming a caregiver, make it a priority to stay involved with your favorite activities. Even though you will have less free time, it is crucial not to ignore your own need for recreation and stress relief.
Support groups are also helpful for new caregivers who are coping with stress, fear and anxiety about their loved one’s condition. They remind caregivers that it is perfectly normal to experience negative emotions and that they should not be ignored. The groups also help connect caregivers with others in the same position.
If You are Receiving the Care:
Asking for help is hard. It may feel like a blow to your pride – but in the end, it will help things go much smoother. Don’t hesitate to ask for help with the tasks that put you in physical pain to complete.
Some of the responsibilities you may wish to ask for help with include:
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Driving to doctor’s appointments
- Hygienic upkeep
- Filling prescriptions
Remember that your caregiver may feel overwhelmed if you present them with a laundry list of responsibilities. Consider asking several friends to share the duties.
Be gentle with yourself along the way. Just because you require extra care does not mean you are completely losing your independence. Look for activities in your community that you can stay involved in. Gentle yoga classes and walking groups are two opportunities to stay connected while actually managing some of your cancer symptoms!
Author bio: Faith Franz researches and writes about health-related issues for the Mesothelioma Center. One of her focuses is living with cancer.
Yesterday I discussed hot flashes and promised to provide you with some support, so here it is. In case you didn’t read yesterday’s blog, here’s what basically happens to trigger a hot flash.
Low Levels of Estrogen and a Wonky Thermostat
When the hypothalamus (located in your brain) senses a drop in estrogen levels, this confuses the hypothalamus, which among other things is your body’s “thermostat”, and makes it think “This body is too hot!”
The brain responds to this by sending an all-out alert to your heart, blood vessels, and nervous system: “Get rid of this heat!” The message is transmitted by the nervous system’s chemical messengers and the message is delivered instantly, causing your heart to pump faster, the blood vessels in your skin to dilate to circulate more blood to radiate off the heat, and your sweat glands release sweat to cool you off even more.
This heat-releasing mechanism is how your body keeps you from overheating in the summer, but when that process is triggered by a drop in estrogen, your brain’s response can make you very uncomfortable. Some women’s skin temperature can rise quite a few degrees during a hot flash.
Your body cools down when it shouldn’t, and you are miserable: soaking wet in the middle of an important work meeting or in the middle of what might have been a good night’s sleep.
Other Triggers
There are many triggers (as you probably know if you’re going through hot flashes)! Drinking alcohol (we only wanted one glass of wine, and now we’re paying for it!), a hot cup of coffee, eating something sweet or sugary, hot or spicy food, sitting in a sauna, going to a hot, tropical place, stress (just try having a heated debate and NOT having a hot flash!), a hot bedroom… I’m getting a hot flash just thinking about having a hot flash.
I was Prescribed an Anti-Depressant
When I spoke to my oncologist about the severity and frequency of my hot flashes (mine were brought on prematurely by my chemotherapy regimen for breast cancer), he wanted to prescribe me an anti-depressant. Apparently low dose anti-depressants work by intercepting the chemicals in the brain that transmit the hot flash alarm.
Being a natural therapist, I declined, preferring to handle the matter naturally instead of creating a whole new problem for myself with anti-depressant side effects.
In 2008 Henry Ford Health System oncologist, Dr. Eleanor Walker with the assistance of acupuncturist, Beth Kohn, conducted a study with 47 breast cancer patients. These patients were all on Tamoxifen or Arimidex to reduce cancer recurrence. Hot flashes are a common side effect of these two drugs. Half of the women received acupuncture treatment and half were given the anti-depressant venlafaxine (Effexor).
The study results: “Both groups exhibited significant decreases in hot flashes, depressive symptoms, and other quality-of-life symptoms, including significant improvements in mental health from pre- to post-treatment. These changes were similar in both groups, indicating that acupuncture was as effective as venlafaxine. By 2 weeks post-treatment, the venlafaxine group experienced significant increases in hot flashes, whereas hot flashes in the acupuncture group remained at low levels. The venlafaxine group experienced 18 incidences of adverse effects (eg, nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, anxiety), whereas the acupuncture group experienced no negative adverse effects. Acupuncture had the additional benefit of increased sex drive in some women, and most reported an improvement in their energy, clarity of thought, and sense of well-being.” Here is a link to that study.
‘Nuff said. See below for more info on acupuncture.
7 Easy, Low Cost Tips for Hot Flashes
- Spray mister with peppermint oil – keep it close to hand. You just need a plastic or glass spray mister with a few drops of peppermint essential oil in filtered or distilled water. The peppermint oil is very cooling. Instant relief.
- Ice water – sip away at it all day, helps to keep you cool (make the ice yourself from filtered water)
- Paper fold-up fans – I have one in my purse, and in every room in the house, tucked away in an accessible place.
- Take a cool shower before bed
- Dress in layers – avoid wool, synthetics and turtlenecks. Go for cotton, rayon, linen, hemp – breathable and much cooler.
- Eat a healthy diet – eat a diet loaded with whole grains, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits, flax seeds (grind them just before you add to salad or cereal), cold-pressed olive oil, salmon, tofu, miso.
- Avoid these – sugar, alcohol, carbonated drinks (they deplete calcium from your body), caffeine (stimulates an already over-stimulated nervous system)
If all else fails, I usually stick my face in the freezer for a few minutes (LOL…)
Special Hot Flash Breathing Exercise
Try to do this twice a day for 10 minutes (it helps to set a timer). Women who did this exercise regularly not only experienced fewer hot flashes but also reduced stress levels.
You can also do this when you first feel a hot flash coming on – stop what you are doing, find a quiet place, and practice this breathing exercise until you are feeling comfortable again.
- Sit in a comfortable, quiet place.
- As you breathe, keep your rib cage still. You will be lowering and raising your diaphragm (takes some practice) to empty and fill your lungs.
- Inhale for a count of 5, pushing your stomach muscles out at the same time.
- Exhale for a count of 5, pulling your stomach muscles in and up.
- Repeat this cycle of breathing until you feel cool, calm and relaxed or the 10 minutes is up.
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) has a few centuries of tradition for treating hot flashes. Since there are all sorts of hot flashes (you know what I mean, there are hot flashes and then there are HOT FLASHES!), the Chinese have descriptions and remedies for all of them.
Before treating you, a TCM doctor will take a full history and will pay close attention to your tongue and your pulse. With that information they can then determine whether you’re suffering from a “hot” menopause or a “cold” menopause and will treat you accordingly. Treatment generally involves acupuncture and/or herbal medicine.
Acupuncture helps to move your CHI (aka Xi – your inner wind, energy, or spirit). Skeptical? Don’t be. I’ve tried it, it definitely helps.
Chinese herbs – common to most TCM herbal remedies for menopause is dong quai. I would recommend having your TCM doctor make up the herbal for you, don’t self-treat with Chinese herbs. Make sure if you have had breast cancer you tell your TCM doctor your complete history.
Western Herbs
Women have found many Western herbs effective in treating hot flashes over the centuries. They include American ginseng, evening primrose oil, hops, licorice root, red raspberry leaves, sage, spearmint, damiana, motherwort, chasteberry (also known as Vitex), black cohosh, and wild yam.
These herbal remedies can be very effective at reducing hot flashes but their relative safety in women who have had breast cancer is not completely known. Please use herbal medicine with great caution, always have an herbalist or naturopath’s advice, and let your oncologist know what you plan to do.
Other Hot Flash/Menopause Remedies
I’ve tried Remifemin and a few other menopause formulas. All of them seemed to help with frequency and intensity of hot flashes, but so far nothing I’ve found helps remove them entirely. I’m trying a new product called Menoquil and I’ll let you know the results of that in a few weeks.
Warnings for DHEA and Pregnenolone
DHEA is a “parent hormone” produced by the adrenal glands near the kidneys and in the liver. It is changed in the body to a hormone called androstenedione, which is then converted to estrogen and progesterone. DHEA is thought to support memory, libido and mood.
Pregnenolone is the precursor hormone to make estrogen and progesterone.
There haven’t been enough studies to prove conclusively whether they are safe for women who have had breast cancer. Here’s a link to an article by webmd.com discussing DHEA.
Hypnosis for Hot Flashes
The American School for Hypnosis has a great article on using hypnosis to treat hot flashes. I’m going to try it!
I would suggest getting yourself a little MP3 recorder (or some device where you can record your own voice) and record the script that appears on this webpage. As they say, “What the mind can conceive the body can achieve.”
Biofeedback
I have read some discussion of biofeedback for relief of hot flashes but I don’t have any experience with it personally. I mention it here in case you’d like to do more research on it. It sounds like an interesting avenue to explore if nothing else I’ve listed above has worked for you.
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I Lie Burning
Oh, the joys of being a menopausal woman.
One day you sense something strange is happening to your body. It’s like all your veins and arteries from the waist up have suddenly dilated and a tiny flutter of heat starts from somewhere in the center of your being and begins to sweep up your torso, neck and face, leaving you feeling totally weird and slightly twitterpated.
Then it begins happening at night, waking you out of a sound sleep. “What’s wrong?”, you think to yourself. “Am I sick?” But you don’t feel ill. What the heck is happening?
Why Our Bodies Do This To Us
Both night sweats and hot flashes are virtually synonymous with menopause and they are completely harmless (so I’m told). Outside of driving you NUTS because your sleep is so interrupted.
Hot flashes are triggered by the hypothalamus, which (among its many responsibilities) acts as a thermostat for your body.
In the simplest terms, when the hypothalamus perceives that there are insufficient hormones in the body, it increases its production of a particular hormone known as GnRH – and its voltage. The resulting electrical excitation spills over to affect a region of the limbic portion of your brain that is involved in temperature control and that causes a reaction that produces rapid temperature increases in your body. The capillaries in your body then dilate and your nerves become highly reactive.
Ever have that feeling of “Oh no!” that just precedes a hot flash? That’s your nerves reacting to these chemical messages.
I find that “Oh no!” feeling hard to deal with. I also know that suddenly wanting a drink of cold water can precede a hot flash.
Heightened stress tends to make hot flashes worse – sometimes all I need to do is think about something stressful and that brings on a hot flash!
Hot, humid weather also makes them worse. On those days, it’s difficult to tell whether your sweat soaked brow is the result of the weather or your hot flashes!
Chemo-Related Menopause
For me, the hot flashes began about 30 days after I started chemotherapy for breast cancer, so it wasn’t a natural phase of getting older.
Chemo-related menopause is like hell on earth to begin with (or at least it was for me). You go from being a fully functioning, “normal” (whatever that is for you) woman with regular periods to nothing but a heat-radiating, sleep deprived, cranky, wild eyed, grouch, ever on the lookout for the cool spot on the sheets.
I was having “tropical moments” every 45 minutes until my body got somewhat used to the chemical infusions and lack of hormones.
Conventional & Natural Therapies
The standard medical treatment for hot flashes is estrogen. Unless you’ve had breast cancer. Then they want to give you Tamoxifen (which I couldn’t fathom – why would I want to take an estrogen suppressor when I didn’t have any damn estrogen in my body in the FIRST PLACE????).
Because I’d read “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer” by Dr John R Lee, I knew that a decline of progesterone was also a factor. I took myself off to a natural medicine doctor who specialized in women’s hormonal problems and he told me that because my tumor had progesterone-receptor positive cells on the surface, I wasn’t a candidate for progesterone either. ***Sigh***
I have tried a myriad of natural things to cope with hot flashes and while some things decrease the severity and frequency, nothing seems to remove them totally. I still have them 8 years later!
Tomorrow I’ll discuss the natural remedies I’ve found that assist with severity and frequency of hot flashes. Who knows? You might be the lucky one whom they help to completely eradicate hot flashes.
Our Ever-Suffering Husbands
I just want to pay a little tribute to our poor husbands or significant others here.
It can’t be easy living with someone who does blanket aerobics in the middle of the night (regardless of the weather), sprays herself down with a spray bottle of cold water mixed with peppermint oil, has to have the window open in the car even though it’s zero outside, flings off her sweater in the midst of the quiet part in a movie and rummages around in her purse until she finds her fold-out fan…
We do appreciate that it can’t be easy living with an overheated, sleep deprived maniac.
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Have You Heard About Boobstagram?
While I’m not sure that showing your boobs on the Internet is actually going to be a good vehicle to raise breast cancer awareness, it certainly does create a buzz, especially among the male members of our species.
Working off the tagline “showing your boobs on the web is good, showing them to your doctor is better”, Boobstagram is the campaign of two Frenchmen, Julien GLT and Lionel Pourtau, who have gone to great lengths (and I’m sure the research was painful… NOT!) to compile thousands of Instagrams of women’s bosoms.
I checked out their website and while not overwhelming with information about exactly HOW Boobstagram was going to accomplish their main goal other than through photographs and social media, I did like some of what they had to say:
“By using this approach and by targeting young people, those most comfortable with new technologies and most comfortable with unconventional messages, we attempt to raise awareness amongst those who must change their behaviour today, in order to change their future tomorrow.”
I’m not sure what they mean about changing “their behaviour” – it would be good to know what they had in mind there. Looks like they had some fun putting the site together though.
If you’d like to be a bit more proactive than just showing your boobs on the web, sign up on the right side of this page to receive my free e-book and report.
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