Newson Health and the menopause industry

I had problems with chicken, which back in the 80s and 90s was hormone fed to speed up maturation. For years I could only eat organic meats. Another trigger was tartrazine which I think is now banned. It is another oestrogen mimic.
Generally UHP foods are not your friend if you have endo.
Oestrogen is the hormone that causes problems with endo, progesterone is your friend, in the form of the Mirena coil.

After a lifetime of hormone related problems I’m quite glad to be rid of them.
Post menopause your levels drop down to that of an 8YR old. My moods are pretty level, I no longer suffer with fluctuating anxiety and can deal with pretty much everything life throws at me. it may not suit most women but having survived breast cancer I probably have a different outlook on life. I don’t give a f@*k about aging, in fact I embrace it because three yrs ago I was worried that I may not make it past 60. You just alter your expectations. I also think that many women forget that along side the menopause you are also aging and many of the symptoms are just the body aging and no amount of HRT will prevent that. I actually find taking a couple of paracetamol daily helps all the aches and pains more than HRT did when I took it.

I say this having recently found out that my DSis has been diagnosed with advanced stage 4 ovarian cancer ( another one that is hormone related) and will probably no longer be with us by Christmas. It sort of puts everything in perspective.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562873/

It’s not natural to have that amount of oestrogen after memo.

Where do the hormones come from then?

From the Virgin Radio interview linked above.

"Dr. Newson’s book, The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause, was revised and updated in May. She said: “The evidence has really changed, and people still worry about HRT, but all the evidence against HRT is the synthetic hormones. So it was made from pregnant horses’ urine. You know, that is not natural for us to have as women, but also synthetic progesterones, they've been chemically altered. Now we prescribe the natural hormones, so it's just replacing like for likes. Of course, they don't have risks. So women are understanding it actually sometimes quicker than healthcare professionals."

Does this sound like the definition of a medication?

A lot of GPs don't seem to understand that peri is where a lot of the problems occur. I was firmly told I couldn't have HRT because I wasn't in post menopause (went to a different GP after that).

That's why it's very important to differentiate perimenopause from postmenopause. Most of the debilitating symptoms occur in perimenopause when oestrogen levels fluctuate significantly. Prescribing HRT for perimenopause is very difficult because of the wide range of fluctuations and individual conditions. Louise Newson is counting on this to back up the prescription of high doses. The problem is that her approach extends to postmenopausal women as well. In those women high doses aren't always necessarily good or "natural", but that's when she justifies it by saying that oestrogen will prevent terrible outcomes regarding osteoporosis, heart disease and dementia.
This is the current state of affairs. Too much guessing and too little scientific evidence.

But Louise Newson claims that hormones are not medication.

How can she say that? Does she say that? They’re licensed medicines - that’s a statement of fact.

What I think is that HRT is useful medication for me, and so does my consultant.

But Louise Newson claims that hormones are not medication. Can you see the gist? When someone takes a medication they are supposed to read the leaflet and be aware of side effects and interactions with other drugs, including herbal teas and phytotherapy supplements. By saying that hormones are natural and that you are only replacing them, and that they are not drugs, she's implying that it's perfectly safe to take them even at 3 times the highest dose tested by manufacturers. And no matter how many times she says they're safe, quantity matters. Cells have evolved in 4 billion years to regulate the complex hormonal balance that we see today, and it's still evolving, we all know it's not perfect. Do you think a transdermal estradiol patch or gel and an oral/vaginal progesterone pill will replicate this process? It's a treatment, the drugs are semi-synthetic and the dosages are purely trial and error. Nothing natural about that.

Its normal to bleed 3 to 6 months after taking HRT I started to bleed bang on the 3 month mark. Im not stopping YOU or others from taking it I think women should absolutely have the choice It just didnt agree with me and im not putting myself through endless painful procedures just to stay on it (ive stopped taking it) my body my choice and that includes what procedures and what instruments go up inside it

It’s not natural to take most medications. But we do, if they improve our physical or mental health.

This is why HRT isn't generally prescribed for the rest of your life, just for 5 years or so to get you through the fluctuations of menopause which is what causes the problematic symptoms.

But that apparently LN advocates for having HRT for as long as you like, which comes with risks (discussed upthread).

Edited for clarity

It’s not natural to have those hormones after menopause. How does she know that won’t cause problems?

So no one has diagnosed that its from HRT and I bet she wouldnt put that in writing either

This https://virginradio.co.uk/the-chris-evans-breakfast-show/154865/dr-louise-newson-menopause-hormones

“So, heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia. That's where we've got to wake up and think, what are the risks of not having treatment? Rather than all this debate for 20 years of, like, ‘What are the risks of HRT?’ But it's natural hormones, so of course, they're safe. We're designed with them, so just replace them."

Are "natural hormones safe"? How much is safe? That's what the Panorama programme is questioning. Louise Newson seems to think it doesn't matter. Her rhetoric is the same used by some companies selling compounded hormones and phytotherapy supplements, if they are "natural" they can do no harm, which is obviously a fallacy.

She's also adamant that without HRT a woman is bound to have heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia, "what are the risks of not having treatment?". Nobody knows what are the risks, so she thinks it's a gambling game, and she is betting on high doses of oestrogen to solve all these complex health conditions that are influenced by many other factors.

She has found a niche opened by the NHS crisis, added a pinch of salt (empowering women) and pepper (destroying the menopause taboo), and now she thinks is banquet time. Her UK tour "Hormones and Menopause - The Great Debate" is supposed to be the climax of her successful social media performance, now a bit sour after the watchdog concerns have been broadcasted. I have no doubt she will survive, lots of fans out there to support her. Numbers matter, unfortunately, much more than individual experiences, like the ones of those ladies interviewed by Panorama.

Its the womb lining they want me to have the procedure for.

I had a polyp on my cervix when I was pregnant with my middle child, a long time before started HRT.

Because the HRT nurse told me its likely it was and the rest of it is a precaution

In contrast, I’ve been on HRT for over 20 years, with no adverse effects, if anecdotal evidence is worth anything.

Patches followed by oral HRT improved mood swings and reduced cramping and heavy bleeding (which I’d had since puberty) for about 15 years, until I started bleeding very heavily and unpredictably, when I was investigated, nothing nasty found, and I was put on Oestrogel and the Mirena, with which I’m happy.

I’m sorry you are going through this but how on earth do you know it is connected to HRT?

Had an ultrasound on Tuesday and got the results today. Polyp on my cervix and womb lining slightly thicker than it should be. So im looking at a hospital appointment and possible hysterocopy. All because i took HRT for three months and came off it two weeks ago due to a heavy bleed. Keep getting asked when my last period was and i KEEP saying i had three very light bleeds which lasted less than a day in 2022 and ive been on the mini pill for nearly three years which stops periods so i may not even be menopausal or post menopausal yet. I wish id never touched the fucking stuff

I'm not in the UK, but I have friends in the UK and my awful perimenopause experience was shared in an online UK forum. I was so desperate to find answers to my debilitating symptoms that I felt I needed to talk to other women having this experience, and not just local doctors, who had very different approaches and opinions (not based in scientific evidence) about this subject. My few female friends and acquaintances were too young or too embarassed to talk about menopause, my mother was dead, and my sisters had very different experiences during menopause, from what I could gather, because they didn't speak about it - one of them almost died during a hysterectomy operation that no one bar her partner knew about. I've read and participated in many useful discussions in that forum and made some long lasting internet friends. Eight years on and I still have hot flushes but I have learned coping mechanisms that have helped and they no longer bother me. I don't know if my other symptoms (joint aches, depression, peripheral neuropathy) are due to the lack of sex hormones, ageing, lack of proper physical exercise, pollution, probably all of the above and more. The forum is still on and kicking, but it's basically about HRT now. I don't post any more. I'm not on HRT, for 3 reasons: it's very expensive here, I am hypersensitive to medicines and drugs in general, and I don't think HRT is safe enough for me, as I have underlying conditions (genetic, not manageable with diet, lifestyle, etc). I have been following the menopause/HRT debate in the UK for these last 8 years and I can say it's been an eye-opener for me, not just regarding all the information that I have gathered since I started my perimenopause rollercoaster journey, but also regarding how humans are easily manipulated by other humans through social media, and under the 'expert' label. I didn't like Louise Newson's approach from the very beginning of her menopause expert career. I don't know her personally and my understanding is based on her published material (mostly online). She uses phrases like "All about menopause, The truth about menopause, HRT should be taken forever, The definitive guide to menopause, All women should take cyclical progesterone as this better replicates the hormones in our younger years" and so on. These are not scientific terms (all about, all women should, the definitive guide, forever) and they can mislead people into thinking they are being told the 'truth' when there is no such thing in evidence based science. She's a doctor who became a celebrity, Davina McCall is a celebrity who plays doctor, like many others in this menopause industry business, they seem to be too good to be 'true'. I hope there is going to be a third way that's not all pro or all anti HRT and that each woman try to educate herself before embarking on another rollercoaster following the advice of a doctor or a celebrity just because they have a thousand or a million followers on social media. Unanimity and stupidity go hand in hand.

This thread has been so useful, thanks Arabella and all PP's.
Feel like I've learnt more here about meno/hrt and the risks/potential benefits associated with my personal situation than I have in a decade of brief 10 minute appointments with a variety of GPs.
The power of women having an honest conversation is not to be underestimated 🙌