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Menopause

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DIM Supplement

20 replies

pilates · 16/02/2019 07:35

I am 50 suffering with various symptoms and am thinking of taking DIM. Is this recognised as beneficial by the medical profession? Are you taking it, have you had negative/positive results?

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 16/02/2019 07:39

What's DIM? or am I being dim? Smile

pilates · 16/02/2019 07:47

Diindolylmethane (DIM): The Hormone-Regulating Supplement

OP posts:
bionicnemonic · 16/02/2019 07:54

If you search for
Diindolylmethane
+Menopause+
Pubmed
You may find research papers

JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 08:52

I have never heard of it and wonder where you have come across it @pilates?

The only 'research' I can find that is true research is this www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048776/

where it is shown to have slight anti-estrogenic effects as a treatment for various estrogen-dependent cancers ( as opposed to phytoestrogens which are supposed to be weak plant estrogen sources.)

It would appear it would not help the menopause at all, because what you need is more estrogen not something to block estrogen.

What are you symptoms and is there a medical reason why you can't have HRT?

pilates · 16/02/2019 09:31

I think someone posted about it on here saying how it had helped. My symptoms are hot flushes, broken sleep, tiredness, aches, zero tolerance and moodiness. There is no reason why I can’t have HRT, just thought if I could have something more natural it would be better.

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 09:49

The only online presence for it seems to be sites selling the product.

HRT is natural- it's made from yams or natural progesterone- it's putting back exactly what your body has. The myth that HRT is chemicals and unnatural is exactly that- a myth.

More natural than DIM which is full of other stuff.

pilates · 16/02/2019 10:10

Oh ok thank you Jingling, are you a medical professional?

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 11:43

No but I am a medical writer so I research and talk to all the UK consultants so i can write stuff.(I've also been on HRT for 11 years under a top consultant.)

pilates · 16/02/2019 14:20

Ok which one are you on? How long do you plan to be on it for?

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 15:18

Oestrogen gel and micronised progesterone (brand name Utrogestan.)

Not sure how long to go- hoping till 70 at least unless any reason why I need to stop.

pilates · 16/02/2019 16:37

Are there different types to suit different circumstances. I have had a partial hysterectomy so I still have my ovaries, would that make a difference?

OP posts:
JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 16:57

Have you had your womb removed?

if so you need only estrogen which is brilliant because it rarely causes side effects. And your risk of breast cancer is less than women not using HRT!

Emerald13 · 16/02/2019 18:10

DIM is used more at bodybuilding and increases the activity of specific enzymes.
It balances the active estrogen and testosterone in the male body and speed fat loss making the muscles more defined.
No good idea for menopause I think! :)

pilates · 16/02/2019 18:56

I have had my womb removed but not my cervix and ovaries, so I still have to have smears.

OP posts:
swingofthings · 16/02/2019 19:50

I've tried it but sadly it brought on my anxiety to another level and just made Mr feel awful so stopped after a week. Had read a lot of good things about it.

JinglingHellsBells · 16/02/2019 22:10

@pilates
What happens with women like you is they start you on a sequential regime - which gives a bleed every month- for 3 months. If there is no blood loss, it's assumed all the endometrial cells were removed with your womb, so you can then swap to just estrogen.

pilates · 17/02/2019 07:12

Thank you so much Jingling I feel I can go to the doctors with a little more confidence now 😀

OP posts:
swingofthings · 17/02/2019 07:45

What my GP friend told me is that DIM can be a good supplement for women in the peri stage, when hormones are all over the place and the issue is not the significant reduction of oestrogen but the surges followed by sudden withdrawals.

She told me that some women have a natural decrease of oestrogen, leading to symptoms such as hot flushes and anxiety, but other women can go for years with huge fluctuations and she thinks this is my case and why I go from suffering from symptoms such as pins and needles, restless legs, hyperness, dizziness etc... when I'm hit by a surge and delibitating anxiety when it drops.

In my case HRT made me feel worse as I was still experiencing surges, so although it helped with the anxiety and hot flushes, it made the other symptoms worse.

DIM can supposedly help with surges as it is supposed to balance the level of oestrogen rather than give more like hrt. As said, in my case, it balanced it by reducing it, but seemed to do so too much. My friend said I should have given it longer, but I've reached the point of being tired of trying all bunch of supplements and really want my body to regulate itself at least to the point when I'll stop having urges. My mum said that she really struggled during the peri phase, but sailed through the actual menopause years. I hope it will be the same for me.

I think DIM is more commonly used in the States.

JinglingHellsBells · 17/02/2019 08:34

I go from suffering from symptoms such as pins and needles, restless legs, hyperness, dizziness etc... when I'm hit by a surge and delibitating anxiety when it drops.

These can be common symptoms of low iron.= anaemia.

Have you had your iron levels tested?

swingofthings · 17/02/2019 10:49

I had all tests done, iron, foliate, b12 and more. I know now it is linked to surge of oestrogen as I noticed I feel the worse with it when I also get the egg white mucus (sorry tmi) which I remember from ttc years ago signifies a peak of oestrogen, normally experienced shortly before ovulation.

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