Whats Been Approved By The Food And Drug Administration
The FDA approves all estrogen therapy medications. Some hormones are sold as bio-identical hormones and arent FDA approved.
Theyre available without a prescription, and theyre not held to the same safety standards as prescription medications. Despite marketing claims, these hormones are also not more natural than the FDA-approved treatments.
How Does Hormone Therapy Work
About 2 out of 3 breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive. Their cells have receptors for estrogen and/or progesterone which help the cancer cells grow and spread.
There are several types of hormone therapy for breast cancer. Most types of hormone therapy either lower estrogen levels in the body or stop estrogen from helping breast cancer cells grow.
Benefits After Receiving Estrogen Therapy
Thankfully, women can count on receiving wonderful benefits from estrogen therapy. Most females will see a significant reversal in all of the symptoms mentioned previously. Bone strengthening can help to prevent osteoporosis. This is important since hip fractures are one of the biggest reasons for loss of mobility in later years.
Other benefits of estrogen treatment before and after menopause can help to improve brain functions to ward off dementia. Improved mood can end depression and restore a positive outlook for the future.
Hormone replacement doctors also recommend progesterone therapy for many menopausal women. Determining the proper treatment means having a blood test to check these vital hormone levels to ensure that the right type of HRT is prescribed. Adding natural progesterone to the treatment protocol will also help firm muscles, strengthen bones, restore libido, reduce the risk of developing diabetes, and even decrease the possibility of colon cancer.
In fact, many women state that they not only feel years younger and better thanks to starting estrogen and progesterone hormone therapy, they also look years younger. That is why taking estrogen before and after pictures is important. When you can see the physical changes that have occurred, both in your body and your relaxed face, you will know that you made the right choice.
Also Check: Hormonal Imbalance Acne And Hair Loss
What Types Of Hormone Therapy Are Used For Prostate Cancer
Hormone therapy for prostate cancer can block the production or use of androgens . Currently available treatments can do so in several ways:
- reducing androgen production by the testicles
- blocking the action of androgens throughout the body
- block androgen production throughout the body
Androgen production in men. Drawing shows that testosterone production is regulated by luteinizing hormone and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone . The hypothalamus releases LHRH, which stimulates the release of LH from the pituitary gland. LH acts on specific cells in the testes to produce the majority of testosterone in the body. Most of the remaining androgens are produced by the adrenal glands. Androgens are taken up by prostate cells, where they either bind to the androgen receptor directly or are converted to dihydrotestosterone , which has a greater binding affinity for the androgen receptor than testosterone.
Treatments that reduce androgen production by the testicles are the most commonly used hormone therapies for prostate cancer and the first type of hormone therapy that most men with prostate cancer receive. This form of hormone therapy includes:
Treatments that block the action of androgens in the body are typically used when ADT stops working. Such treatments include:
Treatments that block the production of androgens throughout the body include:
What If I Have Big Boobs Already
Congrats! But youre probably looking to tone them or help stretch marks, obstacles that come with time that many of my more well endowed friends are constantly battling. If thats your case, or you are pregnant or nursing, youre gonna wanna do this too!
Trust me gift yourself this amazing gem! Its the BEST and most effective option Ive found that is totally natural and trust me Ive really done my research. Other options contains scary toxins like parabens, SLS or PEGs , alcohol or fillers . Or all of the above! No thank you! Stick with this affordable, organic option.
Also Check: Melatonin For Dogs Side Effects
Supplements To Help Increase Estrogen And Help Women In Menopause
While many women suffer from too much estrogen, there are still many women who suffer from not enough estrogen.
This usually occurs in patients post-menopause who start to see the signs of low estrogen on their body.
Increased aging of the skin, increased pain during intercourse, increased risk of urinary tract infection and so on.
Many women even suffer from the more debilitating symptoms of having low estrogen such as insomnia, hot flashes, and depression that can really impact quality of life.
Using these supplements can act as a buffer to help balance estrogen levels either directly or indirectly.
While these supplements may potentially help women with low estrogen, they will not necessarily work for everyone.
In some cases, women may benefit from the use of bio-identical estrogen compounding with both estradiol and estriol.
These supplements should act as a first line therapy though due to their low-risk profiles and ease of use.
If, however, they do not work within 3-6 months it may be worth pursuing prescription options.
#1. Flaxseed
Flaxseed does NOT appear to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, however, and that should be considered if you are at high risk or have a family history of heart disease.
How to Supplement with Flaxseed
How to Use
My Recommended Brand and Product:
#2. Black Cohosh
Black cohosh is another supplement that has been shown in clinical studies to help reduce the symptoms and severity of menopause .
How to Use
What Other Drugs Interact With Estradiol
If your doctor has directed you to use this medication, your doctor or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for them. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with your doctor, health care provider or pharmacist first.
Severe Interactions of estradiol include:
Estradiol has serious interactions with at least 32 different drugs.
Estradiol has moderate interactions with at least 185 different drugs.
Estradiol has mild interactions with at least 34 different drugs.
This information does not contain all possible interactions or adverse effects. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you, and share this information with your doctor and pharmacist. Check with your health care professional or doctor for additional medical advice, or if you have health questions, concerns or for more information about this medicine.
Recommended Reading: How Are Cortisol Levels Tested
Does Your Breast Return To Its Smaller Size If You Discontinue Use
What I really love is that my breast size has NOT returned to its original cup size, despite me forgetting to do my massages sometimes. Its like the massage + oil combo gives you a base fullness and depth to your breasts that LASTS! This also seems to be the overwhelming consensus from others! All I know is that I owe my physique to this oil + ritual combo!
What Are The New Findings
-
Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies identify that hormone therapy in transwomen decreases muscle cross-sectional area, lean body mass, strength and haemogloblin levels, with noted differences in the time course of change.
-
Haemoglobin levels decrease to those seen in cisgender women after 4 months of hormone therapy. In contrast, despite significant decreases in muscle cross-sectional area, lean body mass and strength after 1236 months of hormone therapy, values remain higher than that in cisgender women.
-
It is possible that transwomen competing in sports may retain strength advantages over cisgender women, even after 3 years of hormone therapy.
Recommended Reading: How To Tell If Low Testosterone
What Other Drugs Will Affect Estradiol
Sometimes it is not safe to use certain medications at the same time. Some drugs can affect your blood levels of other drugs you take, which may increase side effects or make the medications less effective.
Many drugs can interact with estradiol. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Not all possible interactions are listed in this medication guide. Tell your doctor about all your current medicines and any medicine you start or stop using.
How Does Feminizing Hormone Therapy Work
You start by taking anti-androgens to block testosterone production. Then, after a few weeks, you take estrogen. This hormone comes in many forms, including:
People who choose feminizing hormone therapy start with a low dose of estrogen. The appropriate amount is different for each person. Your healthcare provider determines the type and dose thats right for you.
Starting with a low dose helps reduce the risk of complications and side effects. Then, as your body gets used to it, your provider will increase the dosage. After achieving the desired results, you take a lower dose for the rest of your life.
Read Also: How To Raise Cortisol Levels Naturally
Exercises For Plumper Boobs:
Exercises that are designed to help plump and shape your chest are essential to getting and maintaining a desirable shape throughout your life. Regardless of what route youve taken for your curves, youre gonna wanna move. Stimulate yourself with dance, feel sexy, get in the flow of self love. This will transfer into a better mentality about your body and put your mind in the direction of the shape you desire. Some of these exercises you can do for a better body are so simple, youre going to ask yourself why you didnt start doing them sooner!
There are 4 exercises that I do every day in The 14 Day Fitness Plan. They are: The Core Kisser, The Fit-All-Over, The Arm Toner & The Rock It. They truly assist in achieving a toned physique, but will also give you the boobies of your dreams!
What Should I Know About Storage And Disposal Of This Medication
Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from heat and moisture .
Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program. Talk to your pharmacist or contact your local garbage/recycling department to learn about take-back programs in your community. See the FDA’s Safe Disposal of Medicines website for more information if you do not have access to a take-back program.
It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily. To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location â one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach.
Read Also: How Long Does It Take For Testosterone Gel To Absorb
Fertility & Birth Control
You may think that youve stopped making sperm or eggs. But you may still have the ability to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant. Depending on the type of sex you have, you may still need to use birth control to prevent pregnancy.
Taking transgender hormones can change your reproductive system and make it hard to have your own baby. We can work with you on your options for saving your sperm or eggs.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Update
To learn more about women’s health, and specifically hormone replacement therapy, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health started a large study in 1991 .It was called the Women’s Health Initiative . The hormone trial had two studies: the estrogen-plus-progestin study of women with a uterus and the estrogen-alone study of women without a uterus. Both studies were concluded early when the research showed that hormone replacement did not help prevent heart disease and it increased risk for some medical problems.
The FDA states that hormone therapy should not be taken to prevent heart disease.
These products are approved therapies for relief from moderate to severe hot flashes and symptoms of vaginal dryness. Although hormone therapy may help prevent osteoporosis, it should only be considered for women at high risk of osteoporosis who cannot take non-estrogen medicines. The FDA recommends hormone therapy be used at the lowest doses for the shortest duration needed to achieve treatment goals. Postmenopausal women who use or are considering using hormone therapy should discuss the possible benefits and risks to them with their healthcare provider.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute offers the following suggestions for women who are deciding whether or not to use postmenopausal hormone therapy:
Always see your healthcare provider for more information.
Read Also: How To Heal Hormonal Acne Naturally
A Note About Sex And Gender
Sex and gender exist on spectrums. This article will use the terms, male, female, or both to refer to sex assigned at birth. .
Estrogen hormone therapy involves an individual assigned male at birth taking the hormone estrogen to develop certain feminine characteristics.
Estrogen stops the pituitary gland from forming gonadotropin, which reduces androgen production. Androgens are a group of hormones that help with reproductive development, among other things. Reducing the number of androgens in the body helps a person transition by encouraging changes in fat distribution, breast development, and male pattern hair growth.
Doctors may also prescribe other anti-androgen drugs to help the transitioning process.
A person may not notice significant changes when starting estrogen hormone therapy. The timeline varies, and some people may see more significant changes than others.
People may notice more changes if they use anti-androgen therapy alongside estrogen therapy.
Estrogen hormone therapy can cause physical changes.
Side Effects Of Oestrogen
The main side effects of taking oestrogen include:
- swelling in other parts of the body
These side effects will often pass after a few weeks. To ease side effects, try:
- taking your oestrogen dose with food, which may help feelings of sickness and indigestion
- eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, which may reduce breast tenderness
- doing regular exercise and stretching, to help leg cramps
If side effects persist, your GP may recommend switching to a different way of taking oestrogen , changing the medicine you’re taking, or lowering your dose.
Recommended Reading: Melatonin Extended Release 10 Mg
Search Strategy And Selection Criteria
This systematic review was conducted in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Two electronic searches of four online databases were completed 15 months apart. The first was performed by BSK in January 2019 and the second by JH in April 2020. The two sets of search results were compared by GLW. The second search identified novel data from three additional studies using the same cohorts as three studies identified in the first search. The more recent search also identified three additional recent papers. Reference lists were also searched for additional citations pertinent to the review. The searches combined terms related to transwomen, GAHT, muscle and blood parameters .
Path To Improved Health
Second, like regular birth control pills, the progestin-only pill makes your body think youre pregnant and stops your ovary from releasing an egg. This doesnt happen as often as with combination birth control pills. Forty percent of women taking the progestin-only pill will continue to ovulate.
Third, the mini-pill causes changes in your uterus that make it less likely to let a pregnancy get started, even if an egg is released.
You May Like: Treatment For Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer
Creating Your Hormone Therapy Plan
Well need to look at several factors, including:
- Your goals how much you hope to change
- Your age and medical history
A blood test happens first. This will give us a baseline to compare against after you start hormones.
Analyzing your blood also helps us see if taking hormones could cause side effects. And well continue to monitor your blood levels during therapy to make sure youre OK.
We usually get lab results back in a couple of days. If we dont see any issues, usually then your transgender hormone therapy can start.
Questions To Ask Your Doctor
- How can I know which birth control pill is best for me?
- If I take progestin-only birth control pills, am I less likely to gain weight as a side effect?
- Is one birth control pill more effective than another at preventing pregnancy?
- Does one birth control pill have fewer side effects than another?
- Can I use birth control pills to skip having a period altogether?
Don’t Miss: Can Hormone Imbalance Cause Nausea
When Can People Take It
The age at which people can access gender affirming hormone therapy varies globally.
For example, in Europe, many countries allow people aged 1418 to access it. However, in some countries, such as the Netherlands, people can access it from the age of 12 years with parental consent.
In some other European countries, access depends on the maturity of the person who would like to receive the therapy.
In the U.S., most people can access estrogen hormone therapy at the age of 18 years, when they are capable of consent. At 17 years old, a person may have access, but they will require a parent or guardian to accompany them to appointments. At the age of 16 years or younger, additional paperwork is necessary to access such therapy.
People using estrogen and anti-androgens as part of their hormone treatment may notice:
- drier and thinner skin with smaller pores
- changes in the odors of sweat and urine
- a reduction in sweat production
- the development of breast buds beneath the nipples that will develop into breasts as treatment progresses
- a more feminine facial appearance
- an increase in fat around the hips and thighs
- a loss of muscle mass in the arms and legs
- a reduction in strength
Research also indicates that cross-sex hormone treatment changes the structure of the brain to bring trans people closer to their identified gender.
These changes could potentially affect a persons verbal and spatial abilities and the way they interact with others.