How To Avoid & Fix The Side Effects of HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy)

What are three common side effects of hormone replacement therapy and how do you fix them?

Let’s talk about it.

Hormone Replacement Therapy can have side effects. Today we will talk about the three most common side effects and how to fix each. 

The number one most common HRT symptom is breast tenderness.

The reason for breast tenderness is twofold.  

When you take HRT, typically estrogen and progesterone, you’re stimulating your breast, which is natural – that’s what estrogen and progesterone do. But if you’re taking too much or if you’re not metabolizing your estrogen appropriately – making more of the inflammatory types of estrogen rather than the noninflammatory types – you’re going to have more breast tenderness. 

Taking DIM, an IC3 indole found in cruciferous vegetables, can help your estrogen metabolism favor noninflammatory 2OH estrone rather than 16OH estrone. I recommend 100 to 200 milligrams of DIM per day and up to 400 milligrams to treat breast tenderness.

Sometimes DIM is not enough and you also need to add some flax ligands and EPA to improve your estrogen metabolism. In the worst-case scenario, if your gut is out of balance, and your microflora is producing too much betaglucuronodase, which frees the steroid hormones that you should be defecating out, you will need to add some Cal-d-glucarate to your supplement regimen.

Too much progesterone can also cause breast tenderness.

The number two most common side effect of hormone replacement therapy is bloating and fluid retention.

When you have too much estrogen on board compared to progesterone, you will retain water in your tissues that will make you feel bloated.

Your fingers look like sausages Your feet and ankles are swollen. This is different then peripheral edema from poor circulation or cardiovascular issues. This is a kind of full body fullness.

The same supplements DIM, flax ligands, and EPA can help with the bloating from hormone replacement therapy. Also lowering your hormone replacement therapy can help. 

The third most common side effect of hormone replacement therapy is headaches.

Hormonal headaches are partially due to increased blood flow to the brain also due to some of the same issues that’s causing bloating. 

These hormonal headaches can be tension headaches or migraine headaches. 

Hormonally induced migraine headaches respond well to sublingual B12. Taking B12 prophylactically, meaning every day, can help prevent migraine headaches. You can also take extra B12 when you’re feeling headach-y.

Genesis Gold® can help to optimize hypothalamic function and optimize hormone metabolism so you do not have as many side effects from hormone replacement therapy. 

If you have questions, please join us in our Hormone Reboot Training.