Health & Well-Being Pre-Menopause and Beyond

The Sexy Years came as a complete surprise – certainly not what I had expected when I initially sat down to read it. Suzanne Somers takes a complicated subject and humanizes it with her very personal story, accompanied by information from medical experts she has worked with in her effort to live a hormonally-balanced, vivaciously happy, second-half of life.

Her comical description of the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause – “the Seven Dwarfs of Menopause…Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful and All-Dried-Up” – was an insight to how positively she handles the monkey-wrenches life can throw at you.

Her “take charge” attitude is to be admired when it comes to how she handles the limited choices that are given to women suffering the symptoms of menopause. This book is one of the reasons why there are many women who now know that the one-size-fits-all traditional hormone replacement therapy, which may be the only one recommended by their gynecologist, is not their only option.

She brings to light the fact that many doctors do not know enough about female hormones because they never received adequate training, and therefore urges women to seek out doctors who are knowledgeable on the subject, if their current doctor is not. Many of us already know the reason medications are ‘pushed’ at us (and that’s not just HRT) – it’s the booming pharmaceutical industry.

Parts of the book contains interviews she conducts with her endocrinologist, doctors and well-known specialists in the field of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), where she asks the questions we might ask. In return, there are factual and interesting answers we can understand without getting lost in the medical mumbo-jumbo. It was interesting to read the passages from various women and their choices/experiences with traditional HRT, BHRT and one that used no hormone replacement therapy at all.

As far as the men in our lives, it was not so much of a surprise as to how our changes can affect them; however it was extremely enlightening to learn about the hormonal changes they also experience as they age, which can cause a loss of energy and stamina. They too, have options available to help balance out the changes

If you are looking for a book that explains how bioidentical hormone replacement therapy works in plain English, this is an excellent introduction. If you are familiar with the concept, but are confused about where to start, what doctors to look for, etc. (as I was) – then I highly recommend reading The Sexy Years.

I have been hearing about bio-identical hormones for a while, but have never really paid attention to all of the fuss. However, with perimenopause looming, catching up on my reading and research about pre menopause symptoms and treatments has moved up on my list of priorities.

It never hurts to do some research on your own – you never know, (unless you are dealing with a specialist) maybe you will bring new information to your doctor.

Most of us have heard of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is made up of synthetic estrogen, progesterone (or a progestin) and testosterone. From what I understand so far, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), also referred to as Natural Hormone replacement Therapy, is made up of a blend of hormones that are supposed to be customized to a woman’s individual hormone needs. That “need” is apparently determined through a saliva test.

Bioidentical hormones are created from plants and are manufactured to be a “custom fit” to a particular individual’s own chemical/molecular structure. Even though bioidentical hormones have been around for years, many doctors are unfamiliar with them (I will leave my personal opinions out here, but you are probably thinking the same thing).

Manufacturers claim that bioidentical hormones are safer than the standard synthetic hormone therapy, however according to the FDA these claims regarding safety, efficacy and superiority of BHRT have not been substantiated.

As always though, when a celebrity becomes involved, whatever they are ‘into’ becomes the rage, or center of attention. When Suzanne Somers published two books in recent years, The Sexy Years: Discover the Hormone Connection–The Secret to Fabulous Sex, Great Health, and Vitality, for Women and Men and Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones, describing her experience with bioidentical hormones and how they relieved her menopause symptoms, doctors were plagued with calls from patients wanting to know more about this form of hormone therapy. So thank you Suzanne Somers, for at least bringing another option to our attention that many of our doctors would not have otherwise.

I have to say that I was not really considering reading her books, since she is not a medical expert, however after rethinking that theory I have reconsidered and recently purchased a copy of The Sexy Years to add to my reading pile. I considered the fact that no one I know personally has tried BHRT and it may be very informative to read about someone’s own experiences – better yet, it will more than likely be something I could understand and relate to and not filled with a bunch of medical jargon that would be hard to digest. Be sure to check back later for my review!