Many of the women I see are drawn both logically and instinctively to a more natural approach to menopause. In this post I suggest that given all we know about the side effects and dangers of HRT, there are alternatives like homeopathy that you can explore.
Alternatives to HRT – Why Consider Homeopathy?
HRT is a Steroid Medication and Carries Risks
Part of our journey at menopause is opportunity to make healthy choices around diet, lifestyle and remedies. In previous blogs I have discussed the serious health risks associated with HRT. And very recently another substantial study has just found that HRT can triple the risk of breast cancer [1].
I have also been concerned about Bio-Identical HRT being assumed to be more safe because it is “identical” and prescribed in lower doses [2] and recently this very issue was discussed on BBC Radio 4 You and Yours [3].
These are powerful drugs. Is it really worth risking cancer and cardio-vascular problems such as stroke?
Menopause is a Natural Process
For most women menopause is a natural process. Some may be catapulted into it through a surgical or drug treatment, but even then – there are still choices.
If you read my other posts about natural alternatives and menopause, you will read about how wonderfully we are designed. Whilst modern life might take its toll so that menopause can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride, we can restore balance naturally. Adding in synthesised chemicals on top does not help us in restoring our true equilibrium, it simply masks what is really going on and pushes us further away from our centre.
Even if you feel modern life has painted you into a tricky corner and that you have no choice but to take a carcinogenic drug, I would suggest that is not the case. You do have choices. There are alternatives to HRT.
What Alternatives to HRT Are There?
If you have seen my previous post on the Journey Through the Menopause [4] you will have read about the immense value to us of this transitional life stage. I offered my seven stage Heroine’s Journey model to support us in exploring the journey we undertake at menopause. Here we consider the value of homeopathy as an alternative to HRT, as one of our “Helpers, Guides & Instruments of Power” (Stage Three).
With her journey underway, our heroine will gather to her various sources of support, the relevance and value of these are as unique to her as her experience of menopause itself: family, friends, colleagues, books, the media, the internet, practitioners, products, remedies, health foods, etc.
Trust the truth of your own experience – what inspires and delights you? What drains and depletes? What nourishes and supports you?
Dietary and lifestyle measures deserve time and attention and can have an enormous impact upon how a woman experiences her menopause. My post Foods That Help With Menopause [5] offers some suggestions about dietary measures. Improving nutrition will often, by default, bring about a beneficial shift for the whole family, creating healthy habits for the years to come.
Finding time and space for ourselves can be difficult – not always easy in a busy life, especially for women whose workload often seems to spread over 24 hours – working outside and in the home, or motherhood perhaps. Practices like Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates, and the Alexander Technique can offer a range of overall health benefits as well as helping to increase awareness of the physical tension in our bodies, to relax, strengthen and support our posture.
Exercise that can be incorporated into daily life and your weekly schedule can help with your physical health. If it is something you enjoy so much the better as a way to build in relaxation.
The practice of meditation, mindfulness or self-hypnosis can provide the means of reducing mental and emotional stress. For others a more grounding practice such as gardening, walking, tai chi or pottery may be an activity that helps them to find peace and stillness.
Losing ourselves in something we love to do, losing track of time and leaving behind all the hassles of everyday modern life can be a wonderful gift to ourselves. Whatever it is that we enjoy, that makes us feel happy and alive is an expression of our creative selves.
Sleep is the body and mind’s chance to recuperate, repair and process. In both the long and short-term, adequate and good quality sleep is a vital part of supporting ourselves in living a more healthy life.
There are many different avenues you can explore to support your health and well-being at all of life’s stages. I will write about homeopathy as an alternative to HRT and our approach here because that is my area of practice. But there are also acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, Bowen, etc. Work with what feels right for you.
Could Homeopathy be an Alternative to HRT?
There is a lot to refer to and see how much homeopathy has to offer generally. You may find my post Evidence for Homeopathy useful to refer to as an overview of sources for trials, studies and the testimonials of people who have found that homeopathy helped them [6].
But does homeopathy work at menopause – could it be an alternative to HRT? No one approach has all the answers but you will gather from my blogs on menopause and natural alternatives that this is an area I am very passionate about.
There are specific studies that give good results for women using homeopathy at menopause. Whether for help with hot flushes and sweats, tiredness, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, mood swings and headaches – there were reported improvements [7], [8]. Bristol Homeopathic Hospital’s Clinical Outcome Survey reported 81% of patients showing clinical improvement for menopausal syndrome [9].
A gold standard randomised controlled trial (RCT) by Laboratoires Boiron showed significant improvements in hot flushes between the group of women taking a non-individualised homeopathic combination and the placebo group [10].
Another RCT was set up to assess the efficacy of homeopathy versus placebo, and Prozac versus placebo, when used for moderate to severe depression in menopausal women. Both treatments had an effect significantly different from placebo. However, homeopathy caused greater clinical improvement in symptoms of depression than Prozac and also improved the patients’ menopausal symptoms, whereas Prozac did not [11].
Well over 200 million people worldwide use homeopathy, it is one of the most commonly used systems of medicine in the world today [12], [13]. In the UK 12% of the population (equivalent to nearly 8 million people) use homeopathy [14].
You would be justified in asking why you don’t hear of these positive studies. I remember ringing up a local newspaper and trying to convince a young female reporter to publish a story about the Womens Health Initiative Study being stopped early back in 2002 because of the serious cancer and cardio-vascular health risks of HRT to the participants. I was told it wasn’t news!
On a wider level, Dana Ullman gives an overview on the The Disinformation Campaign Against Homeopathy if you are interested in this aspect of the story [15].
Meanwhile, I believe we each need to gather our own information and create our own assessment of what the true benefits and risks are. Making a genuinely informed choice instead of finding ourselves on the conveyor belt heading for potential harmful drugs or unnecessary surgery.
Health Benefits of Taking a Natural Approach at Menopause
I believe that looking for alternatives to HRT like homeopathy, means that you don’t need to expose yourself to unnecessary risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease and a myriad of other side effects from HRT.
A more engaged natural approach may also potentially improve your physical health by taking the opportunity to look at how you live – your diet, stress levels, relaxation, creativity, exercise, etc.
Without doubt some of the advances of modern drugs and surgery are truly spectacular – life saving and life enhancing. However, I do believe we have to be selective, and to choose them when the benefits do genuinely outweigh the risks.
It feels like an unfortunate consequence of “a pill for every ill” is that there is a disconnect between how we live and our health. As if what we think, feel, do and eat has no impact or importance. I have had patients tell me that they have been put on statins for raised cholesterol and then when they asked their GP for dietary advice they were told “it doesn’t matter, eat what you like because you are on statins now”. Another jaw dropping moment.
What of the overall benefits of eating more healthily, exercise, etc. on our cardio-vascular and general health? Of taking responsibility for our health?
The Benefit to You as Woman of Looking for Natural Alternatives at Menopause
Menopause an important life stage for women. A badge of honour – wisdom hard won. It can be a time of challenge but as with all transitions, there is the opportunity for growth and happiness. Trying chemically to medicate it out of existence misses both the point and the truth of it!
I believe homeopathy truly is a medicine of transition. Remedies can support and reflect this journey, enabling us to navigate our way through, stage by stage. We have thousands of remedies to call upon as we aim to provide individually tailored support. You might also find my post Natural Remedies for Menopause a useful read [16]. Please do bear in mind that a blog can only give you a snapshot of the depth and breadth of what is available when using homeopathy but my hope is to share the possibilities with you.
As a homeopath my aim is to offer remedies to support the emotional and physical process, but also to provide a space in which to explore the landscape of the heroine’s journey as it unfolds.
I hope you have found this post to be supportive in exploring alternatives to HRT such as homeopathy. Please contact me if you would like to see if my approach might suit you.
References and Resources
[1] HRT triples the risk of breast cancer, biggest ever study shows – The Daily Telegraph
[2] HRT and Osteoporosis: What You Need to Know
[3] BBC Radio 4 You & Yours “Leading medical bodies say that an alternative form of Hormone Replacement Therapy is being mis-sold to women suffering with menopausal symptoms.” 13.07.16 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jqqw1#play
[4] Journey Through the Menopause
[5] Foods That Help With Menopause
[7] Thompson EA, Reilly D. The homeopathic approach to the treatment of symptoms of oestrogen withdrawal in breast cancer patients. A prospective observational study. Homeopathy. 2003 Jul;92(3):131-4. ECCH Research Paper – An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys, ENHR, April 2005
[8] Relton, C. NHS Homeopathy Menopause Service. Outcome Study. In press. ECCH Research Paper – An Overview of Positive Homeopathy Research and Surveys, ENHR, April 2005
[9] Clinical Outcome Study, Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, 1997-99 http://www.facultyofhomeopathy.org/research/
[10] Efficacy of a Non-Hormonal Treatment, BRN-01, on Menopausal Hot Flushes – A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo- Controlled Trial (Colau ét al, 2012) – Springer International Publishing AG
[11] Macías-Cortés ED et al. Individualized homeopathic treatment and fluoxetine for moderate to severe depression in peri- and postmenopausal women (HOMDEP-MENOP study): a randomized, double-dummy, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. PLoS One, 2015 ;10(3):e0118440
[12] Commission Report to the European Parliament and Council on the Application of Directives 92/73 and 92/74, Com (97) 362 final; Jul-97
[13] Prasad R. Homeopathy booming in India. Lancet, 370:November 17, 2007, 1679-80
[14] Global TGI Barometer, issue 33; Jan-08
[15] Huffington Post, Dana Ullman The Disinformation Campaign Against Homeopathy
[16] Natural Remedies for Menopause