I didn’t want to have to learn about female hormones…until I went through menopause and found that the information is not something you want to leave up to someone else (like your doctor), unless they know quite a bit about the subject! And if you don’t do anything about it, life isn’t as much fun because hot flashes, shrinking bone density, forgetfulness, and that beach ball around the tummy start making inroads into one’s life.
Suzanne Somers, that smart blond whom you may remember from “Three’s Company” and then with Patrick Duffy in “Step By Step,” first wrote about bio-identical hormone replacement therapy in “The Sexy Years.” The book contained answers to questions such as, why is it dangerous to take estrogen and progesterone all the time; why is Premarin not a healthy choice, why are synthetic hormones masking the symptoms, and not correcting the problems, etc.
After reading “The Sexy Years” (which is available on www.Amazon.com), I started the search for a good bio-identical progesterone cream. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds! If you start scanning product ingredients, you’ll find a LOT of the creams out there either contain very little bio-identical progesterone, or contains chemicals or herbs which your body doesn’t want or need.
The one which I’ve been using very happily for months now is Oasis Serene’s Natural Progesterone Cream. Two different amounts of bio-identical progesterone are offered: one jar contains 750 mg. and the other contains 1500 mg! The ingredients (stated on their web site) are: Natural Spring Water, Vegetable Stearic Acid, Sweet Almond Oil, Vegetable Glycerine, Aloe Vera, USP Progesterone, Vitamins A, B-Complex, C, D & E and Grapefruit Seed Extract.
Oasis Serene (OAW) comments about other creams: “OAW formulated products are 100% toxic-free. Our progesterone cream products will never contain questionable or potentially harmful ingredients / excipients such as magnesium stearate (a toxic, hydrogenated oil that suppresses the immune system), silicon dioxide (common sand), methyl or propylparaben,methylcellulose, carnauba wax, palmitates,FD&C; food colors (recently banned by the FDA), “natural a fancy name for MSG, a known neurotoxic), polyethylene glycol,acetate, titanium dioxide and other toxic excipients and potentially harmful manufacturing additives. We guarantee our cutting edge formulations are free of toxic tag-along herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, heavy metals, fumigants, etc. OAW product ingredients are certified organic, wild crafted or of the highest purity and quality that we can obtain while still providing the utmost degree of active ingredients. All batches are laboratory tested to ensure that you are getting exactly what the label states. We will never knowingly compromise health in order to provide a cheaper product or to get a product out quickly. You can be assured that, at OAW and Oasis Serene, Your Optimum Health & Well-Being Is Our #1 Priority.”
oasis Serene ships the progesterone cream very quickly after you order it. This isn’t a product that will take two weeks to get to you!
If you are using a progesterone cream right now, grab the label and see if any of the ingredients are listed above in bold print!
I have noticed some hormone cream companies putting in herbs to try to reduce the symptoms of menopause. Herbs work like drugs, at least when they are assimilated into the blood stream. Some herbal concoctions in a skin cream will not ever get any farther than the skin. If herbs do get through to the fat cells, and from there into the bloodstream (which is how progesterone cream works), a person could end up taking herbs and not needing them. For instance, as the progesterone cream is used, month by month, hot flashes tend to be mitigated or leave entirely. If the progesterone cream you are using contains St. Johns Wort, ginseng or motherwort for hot flashes, any of those ingredients may be unnecessary and even detrimental if you take them on a daily basis and don’t need them.
Any herbs taken to help mitigate a condition would be better if not combined with a hormone cream. That way, you can adjust or discontinue the herbs entirely when necessary.
At the time that “The Sexy Years” came out, it was about all us women had which would educate us. At that time, Suzanne assumed that there were a sufficient number of experienced practitioners in the United States to deal with the onslaught of distressed post-menopausal and peri-menopausal women who wanted help. Unfortunately, there are too few experienced practitioners out there with years under their belt working to balance sexual hormones with bio-identical hormone therapy.
Now Suzanne has a second book out: “Ageless” (from Amazon.com). More information to help us look and feel good after menopause. Suzanne has the money and the clout to get information that many of us would never be able to obtain on our own. Wherever she goes, whatever she does, she leaves a “trail of bread crumbs” behind her, much like Hansel and Grettel. All we have to do is follow behind and pick up the bread crumbs!
I have ordered the book, but have not received it yet. One might wonder why the heck I’ve gone ahead and written about Oasis Serene’s bio-identical progesterone cream then?! Perhaps there is something better out there. The thing is, that I keep talking with people who are either not using anything at all, and slowly losing bone mass and accumulating that “:beach ball on the front” look, or others who are using something that puts undesirable chemicals into their bodies daily. Some have just simply become so shell-shocked by the sheer vast numbers of creams out there that they have given up. Since I have spent hours on the Internet, reading “P cream” labels, others might as well benefit by what I’ve found.
I’ll get back to you with the major points in “Ageless” after I’ve read it, how’s that?! If you’ve been searching for information on how to stay healthy and age as little as possible after menopause, get your hands on a copy of “Ageless.” You can count on Suzanne to write the “real skinny,” the cutting-edge truth on diets, menopause, and good health. Hey, I have to admit, not all of her products are as good as her books! I bought an exercise machine, was disenchanted with it, and got rid of it. She sold a pretty cheesy little ice cream maker that looked like it would break pretty quickly. But many of her products are good, and her books are solid gold!
If you have hot flashes, bone density loss, have trouble remembering things, feel irritable and out of sorts, and are putting on weight, consider Suzanne’s comment in “The Sexy Years: “Then, suddenly, the Seven Dwarfs of Menopause arrived at my door without warning: Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful and All-Dried Up. One by one, they crept into my own private cottage in the woods and started to take over my life.” (page 2, The Sexy Years, Suzanne Somers)
At this point, I’d like to extend my apologies to any little people reading this article. After watching , and becoming quite attached to the interesting Roloff Family in “Little People, Big World,” on The Learning Channel, I’ve come to learn that “dwarfism” describes a sort of growth condition, and it is possible that the illusion to Disney’s “Seven Dwarfs” could be offensive to someone. I hope that all can take Suzanne’s comment in the lighthearted manner in which it was written and apologize for its inclusion if it has offended anyone !
Take back your life! It has been estimated that a woman is left with 1/120th (that’s ONE ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH!) of the progesterone she used to have in egg-bearing years. Whew, no wonder we feel so #(@*% lousy – giggle!
