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To treat hormones or not to treat?

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Posted 7/11/2020 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
So what are people's take on treating hormones if you have multiple confirmation tests that certain hormones are out of range. For instance if you have high estrogen and low testosterone or vice versa. Is the running theory to treat the infections and hope that hormones will naturally balance out as pathogen load has been reduced. Or are some adaptagentic herbs recommended to aid the hormones. Or we going full tilt on hrt and or steroidal creams such as DHEA pregnenolone progesterone etc. ?
It's just so difficult to make a decision with so much opposing information on the internet. And so many of my doctors just wanted to write expensive scripts where you know there's a quota. In our weakened immune state I've been apprehensive about manipulating hormones because of our high susceptibility to leukemia lymphoma myeloma etc I know that's not talked about much on these sites in order to keep spirits high but I also believe in straight shooting having seen it so many times in my local lyme support group.
Thanks for your experiences
Posted 7/11/2020 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
Early on I tested my hormones...and tried the 'bio identical' hormone treatment.

Back then, it was about estrogen dominance. I did the topical progesterone cream for several months....didn't help at all.

Then because my estrogen was low... I did the topical estrogel. It didn't help either.
Posted 7/11/2020 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
My own take on it is to treat it.

Once I've killed Lyme, I will likely test again to see if I still need it.

My testosterone, thyroid and cortisol were all low.

Now I take weekly testosterone injections and take synthroid daily for my thyroid.

I tried taking something for low cortisol (low dose hydrocortisone) but it made me gain a lot of weight so I stopped. Also tried herbs but nothing helped. So that's the only one I'm not treating right now.

I'm not sure what bio identical means in terms of hormones, I'll have to read up on it. I don't think that's what I'm using.
Posted 7/11/2020 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
Dr Horowitz believes in treating all hormone imbalances to help a person get better from Lyme.
in particular, he says that unless you get thyroid hormones in the normal or upper normal range a patient often does not get better - the thyroid hormones govern the activity of a lot of our metabolism - including the immune system.
unfortunately, thyroid hormones are a complex subject and in many countries even if you are diagnosed as hypothyroid - they just give you Synthroid and call that done.
The actual science on the subject shows that normal thyroid function cannot be achieved via Synthroid supplementation alone.

for those reasons, I decided to treat myself with a combination of T3 and LevoThyroxine ( Synthroid/T4 ) to aid my fight to get well again

Horowitz second book has a chapter on hormone imbalances in Lyme and I can recommend it as a good place to start

this guy also gives a great deal of free information on thyroid testing and medications etc - seems to be a good source ( he also sells supplements and stuff but you don't have to buy anything to download the info )
https://www.restartmed.com/

Post Edited (Garzie) : 7/12/2020 10:54:21 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/11/2020 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
I dont know about estrogen, but with men, testosterone can be low if thyroid is low; correct thyroid then testosterone can improve.

Thyroid tip #1 above all others is (I was not a believer years ago either) go 100% glutan free. I dont follow fads. This is real with some people, Gluten can contribute to hypothyroid, and even cause thyroid nodules in some people. It is worth trying but you need to commit 100% for at least three months. Test before and after. G/F is not as difficult today unless your a hardcore eating socializer or go to restaurants a lot, do your homework ahead of time.

Synthetic t4 thyroid meds did nothing for my thyroid symptoms, I personally see results with pig thyroid and gluten free to keep it managed (no more thy med increases and no more nodules).

Post Edited (astroman) : 7/11/2020 5:22:06 PM (GMT-6)

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