Moxie Article 5 Questions to Ask Doctor Before Taking Hormones is a good place to start if you're considering any sort of hormone replacement therapy. Millions of women from menarche to the grave suffer from the symptoms of estrogen deficiency. These women are given prescriptions for pharmaceutical drugs to treat only the symptoms of their deficiencies. Doctors are not educated otherwise. Pharmaceutical companies fund medical schools therefore, have a lot of pull in the curriculum being taught therein. The modern medical model in this country is to keep the patient with the disease, but manage the symptoms of the disease with prescription drugs. Going to the doctor isn’t about getting well or getting to the root cause, it’s about disease management.

Menopause, perimenopause, endometriosis, PMS, PCOS, and many other conditions women suffer from are caused by estrogen deficiency, not a drug deficiency. If medicals schools taught this, more doctors would fix the estrogen deficiency by restoring the diminished estrogen instead of passing out prescriptions for all the miserable symptoms associated with estrogen deficiency.

Because doctors are not forthcoming with their lack of knowledge, training, and experience in hormone replacement therapy, it’s up to the patient to ask the hard questions. Patients assume because a doctor has a medical degree, they know how to prescribe and manage hormones. This is very far from the truth. They do not teach root causes and natural treatments for menopause, perimenopause, endometriosis, PMS, PCOS, and hormone replacement therapies in medical school so why go to a doctor who has no knowledge in the area you are seeking help?

Don't be afraid to ask your doctor some questions when you go in for the hundreds of symptoms of estrogen deficiency you will experience. Do not have someone balance your hormones from someone who has no formal training. Many patients have come into our practice more messed up by doctors “trying” to balance hormones according to our modern medical model of disease management. Before starting any hormone replacement therapy, ask your provider these questions:

--Where did you get your hormone training? (There are a few doctors who think outside the conventional medicine box who've had formal training in HRT, and a weekend seminar in Palm Springs does not constitute formal training).

--Do you prescribe estrogen 17-Beta estradiol? (Stay away from the doctor who prescribes bi-est or tri-est).

--How long have you been treating patients with hormone deficiencies? (The longer doctors optimize hormones, the better they get. Balancing hormones is not an exact science and no two patients are the same. “Fine tuning” hormones are a part of the process).

--Do you optimize or give lowest dose? (Optimizing means dosing hormones at levels that mimicked a woman when she was in her prime. This reverses and prevents disease. Giving the lowest dose possible only treats the symptoms, and doesn’t reverse or prevent disease).

--Do you cycle or static dose? (Women's bodies cycle with the phases of the moon, and men’s bodies cycle with the sun. Estrogen peaks at day 12 and 21 of her cycle, progesterone peaks at day 21, and testosterone peaks at day 15. If our hormones naturally cycle, why give the same amount of hormones everyday)?

Finding a qualified doctor is a challenge but there are certain questions you can ask to see if your doctor is the one who should be prescribing you hormones.
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Menopause Moxie~The Real Menopause Expert