3 reasons I am not choosing HRT.. 🌱
This week I want to share with you some of my personal reasons for not choosing hormone replacement therapy.
1) Menopause is a natural life transition (perimenopause is the run-up, I'm 49 years old and over 2.5 years in.. ) I have a deep understanding and trust in my body that it is not going wrong, that I am not 'deficient', that my body is evolving and recalibrating into a new phase of womanhood. We are equipped from birth with all of the hormones we need to sustain us throughout our lives (our adrenal glands are designed to pick up the production of sex hormones once this diminishes in our ovaries). Nature doesn't get it wrong. Our bodies are a miracle of creation, I see this in the hundreds of beautiful, strong, wise women thriving at this time whom I have had the honour of supporting.
2) Symptoms are our body's way of rebalancing and healing, and not every symptom at this time is down to changing hormones. (Menopause gets a bad rap and is blamed for a multitude of symptoms! The causes of symptoms can lie in other health conditions..). Hot flushes and sweats, for example, are a way for the body to detox if our liver is overloaded, if our stress hormones are too high, or when our nervous-system needs a reset. Supporting our bodies with rest, nourishing foods, gentle exercise, and with natural medicines at this time works wonders: I managed migraines, night sweats, insomnia and bladder irritability in just 3 weeks using herbs and homeopathy.
2a) ;) Symptoms are also our body's way of showing us what needs to be healed emotionally. This is why I absolutely love supporting women at the change of life - menopause is a powerful metamorphosis, and unhealed emotional trauma often arises for healing at this time. Symptoms in the bladder are often related to resentment. Too little oestrogen - an imbalance in our masculine/feminine energies. Too much oestrogen - feeling unsafe to explore our feminine, intuitive sides - especially when we have been demeaned or disregarded...
3) Our minds and bodies are intimately connected. We have the ability to choose what our experience of menopause will be, and actively rewire our subconscious minds with new and empowering beliefs to reverse the fear to faith. I once bought into the fear and negativity around 'the inevitable decline' around this time in a woman's life, but this is not the truth: Every woman's experience of perimenopause/menopause is entirely unique. No life transition is ever easy, but healing your mindset around menopause can create amazing shifts in mind and body. I reframed my mindset to one of positivity and excitement around this time in my life - apart from the slowing down of my menstrual cycle (as I write this I’m on day 93, only 272 days to go until I am officially in menopause!) and the occasional hot flush when I’m stressed, I haven't experienced a single uncomfortable symptom since the beginning.
Melissa x