Hormones

Menopause

The Truth About Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

Mastering The Meno(Pause) Transition Summit 3.0

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q6s8zsPMu31QLwCj8QiLKPJ8vutlHtse/view?usp=drive_link

Let's just talk about some of the most important things. Number one, testing the way you have your hormones tested is so important because we have to test. We cannot guess, especially when it comes to hormones. There's no way to know how your hormones are metabolized, which kind of estrogens you're making, or what your levels are without testing. We can guess you're having hot flashes, your estrogen is low or you're not sleeping, your progesterone is low or you have no sex drive, or your testosterone is low. We have to test. What's the standard out there? It's not the gold standard. Most doctors are just testing your levels in blood. There are a lot of problems with that because that is just a millisecond of what's going on in your serum. It has nothing to do with what's happening at the receptor site, with how you're metabolizing, or with what's happening over a day.  As you're going to learn, if you hang around with me, the gold standard way of testing is 24-hour hormone urine testing. It is the only way you can't see in blood accurately what your estriol levels are, what your two methoxy estradiol levels are, what your 2/16 ratio is, and what your four-hydroxy Astron is, and these are all very important for different reasons. Your four-hydroxy estrone is the metabolite that is most closely associated with DNA damage. It's considered to be carcinogen-genic. When you hear estrogen causes cancer, well, that's like an itty-bitty part of the story. Yes, certain metabolites are more proliferative, but there are other metabolites like two methoxy estradiols that are anti-cancer, which I use to treat cancer to prevent the recurrence of cancer.  It's very lazy medicine when someone just says estrogen causes cancer; that is not true. It's important to understand what your body is doing. For some women, they lose their testosterone first. Other women lose it last. When you need to be supplemented is very different for every woman. If you're carrying around some extra pounds, which we've got answers for you at this summit, you may be aromatizing converting into estrone in the fatty tissue, and estrone is a proliferative estrogen. Estrogen; it's E1, and we don't want a lot of that type of estrogen. We want E2, which is estradiol, in combination with E3, which is estriol, which is anti-cancer and antiproliferative. If you're just taking a patch and you're only getting estradiol, chances are you're not metabolizing estriol. But maybe you are. That's why we need a 24-hour urine test. It's so important. I have done this with so many women. I can tell you, for example, that most women on an estradiol patch are not converting, maybe out of 100 women, two are. It's important to know if you're in that too, or if you need to change the way you're taking your estrogen or add in the way you're taking your estrogen. It's a symphony, and we want the hormones, just like we want the symphony. We want the wood, strings, and percussion to all play beautifully together. testing, not guessing, and testing the correct way. If you test in saliva and you're on hormones, it is not an accurate way to check your hormones. You will have elevated levels, and then your doctor will tell you you need to reduce your progesterone, but you don't. Then you start feeling bad because you reduced something you shouldn't have reduced. After all, the test gave you inaccurate information. I am a stickler for how I test things. Yes, I test cortisol in the saliva. We'll talk about that in another day, I promise. Adrenals are important, but hormones are in the urine. 

How we take it: Using creams, properly compounded creams. I didn't say it to start, but I'm always, always talking about bioidentical hormones. If you're going to get synthetic hormones, don't take hormones. You need to find a doctor who works with bioidenticals. That is identical to what your body produces. When they get to the receptor site, the receptor site goes, “I recognize this hormone. I will let you in.” What is this weird molecule? Then you get all these side effects. Also, pellets are a no-no. Out of the tens of thousands of women I've seen, I've seen like maybe one or two women who were on pellets. We're not testosterone-toxic, estrogen-toxic, or liver overloaded. I am not a fan of pellets. I'm a fan of creams applied correctly. I'm a fan of proper testing, and why hormones? A lot of times you'll hear, you got to get your diet together, you got to be exercising. All these things are important before you do hormones. But we forget that our hormones are not just about getting rid of hot flashes. Our hormones are intimately related to our blood sugar regulation, our brain health, our sleep-wake cycle, our bone health, our cardiovascular health, our breast health, and our gender urinary health. It would be easier for me to just say your hormones are intimately involved in every system in your body. It is important to eat right. You're going to see through this summer. You already started to see it yesterday. It is not just about taking hormones. You have to do all the things right. I want you to put hormones into a happy, healthy, balanced terrain. However, you can't eat your way, supplement your way, sleep your way, or move your way out of low hormones. Taking the hormones is natural, or taking an herb is not natural. Your body is not maca deficient. Your body has estrogen deficiency. The way I look at things, we replace the hormones with like a handshake that you are not going to replace the hormones and then go to McDonald's, that you're going to get on board, that you're going to prioritize your health. We replace the hormones, and then we tidy up all the other things. We support the liver, we get the lymph flowing, and we prioritize protein. We prioritize your bedtime. We prioritize relationships to ourselves and others, to the community, and to nature. We do all the things, but when you have your hormones replenished, then you can think straight, then you can sleep, then you have more energy, and so it enables you to get to the gym to not make stressed-out poor choices when you open the fridge. 

Balancing your hormones is crucial to how you will live this next stage of your life. finding someone like myself who is an expert, who has been there because I have learned this over trial and error. For instance, progesterone doesn't just take cream or just don't take capsules. You've got to take both. They have very different mechanisms of action in the body. Progesterone capsules across the blood-brain barrier will metabolize down to allopregnanolone and will then affect GABA. GABA is our main inhibitor, which means a quieting, chilling neurotransmitter in our brain. It can help us sleep, that's capsules.  But the cream applied properly to the external labia helps with our bone health, helps with our breast health, helps with our uterus, helps with our blood sugar, etc., our immune function. This is something I didn't know when I first started practicing. But you're getting the benefit of me having done this for so many years, and now I've got it nailed down. It's like now when a patient comes in, for the most part, 90% of my patients, I can get their hormones balanced within three to four weeks, get them feeling great, get the symptoms gone, and most importantly, get the prevention on board. Because yes, I want you to feel good. I don't want you sweating. I don't want you crying. I don't want you snapping. I don't want you to feel like garbage. I want you to feel good. But I want the benefits of what the hormones are going to do to prevent Alzheimer's, to prevent cardiovascular issues, to prevent osteoporosis, to prevent immune dysregulation and autoimmune disease, to prevent cancer, and so on, and so I always hear people say, Dr. Stills, how long do I have to take my hormones for? I say, for as long as you want to feel good and get all the preventative effects. I've had a couple of patients throughout the years who've been like, I don't want to do this. I'm tired of rubbing creams on my hoo-ha, and I don't want to spend the money anymore. I'm stopping, and I'm like, it's not advised, but you'll hear me say it a lot. You do you. I'm just here to guide you. I'm not here to whip you into submission. I'm just here to share my knowledge and my experience. Both times they came back within six months and said, “That was a bad idea. Give me back those hormones, please.” It's never too late, and it's never too early. I loved last year at the summit. I had so many women who were not in menopause, but they were in their late 30s or early 40s, and they were like, I want to get it together. I want to have a great menopausal transition. Starting now, pre-gaming, as I say, is the key to that. It doesn't matter what your age is. Share this with all your ladies in your life—your daughters, your nieces, your granddaughters, your daughters, your sisters, your mothers, your coworkers, your neighbors, your friends, etc.—because we are being misled. We are being told that identical hormone replacement causes cancer. It's not safe; it's not natural; it's not necessary. All of that couldn't be further from the truth. I want you to balance your hormones. I feel better now, honestly post-menopausal, than I did when I was cycling, because now I'm stable, my hormones are happy, they're in a great range, my metabolites are balanced, and I can get on with it. None of this ups and downs and roller coaster madness. Believe me, I was there. 

If you listened to my talk yesterday, I told you how I got started, and if you didn't, I highly recommend listening to it because I'm no different than you. I'm just a woman. I just happen to be a doctor who specializes in this situation. But I don't have magic powers. I have to work for my health too. I can tell you at 56, I feel better today than I felt in my 20s and 30s, and it just keeps getting better. I hope this has given you some clarity. There's so much to share. You're going to learn a lot during the summit. You're going to launch a lot after the summit because I'm going to keep the party going. There's some fun stuff I do after the summit, so stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, enjoy all the talks. 

Today I have personally handcrafted who I interviewed and what we spoke about, and this information is going to be life-changing for you. Just to recap, testing 24-hour urine application, typically creams, but I didn't get into the details. I will so stay tuned. but some are good as sublingual drops, nasal sprays, and all the things capsules for progesterone. But you must take your hormones the right way. You take them at the right time, and you find someone who understands bioidentical hormones and can help you in your journey. I love you all already. I'm so excited you're here. I'm so excited to watch your lives change and your hormones be a big part of that.

<h6>Sharon Stills, NMD</h6>
Hello and welcome back to day two of Mastering the Menopause Transition Summit. I hope you loved yesterday as much as I did. I'm kicking off today. We've got another amazing chock-full day for you. But today I want to have my morning talk with you about hormones. Because, let's face it, what's going on in menopause? Your hormones are cliff diving. They're jumping off a cliff. Sometimes they're skiing, so it's more gradual. But the result, no matter what is that your hormones are all crashing. Your progesterone, your estrogen, your testosterone, your DHEA, perhaps your oxytocin, your growth hormone, your thyroid, your adrenals. We'll get into that in other days. I want to kind of stay focused right now for this morning and chat about the sex hormones, about your progesterone, your estrogen, and your testosterone, because there's so much noise out there about how to take your hormones, when to take your hormones, not to take your hormones, and why you take your hormones. I just want to set the record straight. After 23 years in practice, I know a few things about hormones, and I have helped tens of thousands of patients and women, whether it's one-on-one in my practice or through the summit, in an online class I teach, or through my test plus consult, which you'll learn about after the summit. But it allows you to work with me one-on-one to find out about your hormone levels.

https://d1tnc8rqovg0h0.cloudfront.net/2024+Summits/Meno(pause)+Summit+3.0/Transcripts/2024_MTMTS3_Mini+Talk+Day+2+Transcript+File.pdf

Dr. Sharon Stills, a licensed Naturopathic Medical Doctor with over two decades of dedicated service in transforming women’s health has been a guiding light for perimenopausal and menopausal women, empowering them to reinvent, explore, and rediscover their vitality and zest for life. Her pioneering RED Hot Sexy Meno(pause) Program encapsulates her philosophy: to Reinvent your Health, Explore your Spirit, and Discover YOUR Sexy. This unique approach has revolutionized the way women experience their transformative years, making her a sought-after expert in the field.
A proud graduate of The Sonoran University, class of 2001 with a rich background in European Biological Medicine, pro-aging therapies, and Bio-identical Hormone Replacement, Dr. Stills has successfully guided thousands of women through gentle transitions using all-natural methods. Her expertise is recognized globally, evidenced by her invitation to take part as the Co-Lead North American lecturer for the Paracelsus Academy in Switzerland when the Academy was up and running. She also is a long time contributor as a physician expert at Women’s Health Network. Her influence is also felt in academia and professional circles, sitting on the boards of the Bio-Regulatory Medicine Institute and the Archive of Healing at UCLA. Dr. Stills continues to share her knowledge through the annual Mastering your Meno(pause) transition summit and as the former host of The Science Of Self Healing podcast.
The opening of Stills Health Clinic, her new 7,000 sq. ft. clinic in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona, in late fall 2024, marks another milestone in her mission to provide unparalleled naturopathic care. There along with her son, Dr Ben Stills, they will be providing unique diagnostic and therapeutic options addressing all forms of chronic illness including but not limited to cancer, autoimmunity, covid-20 and of course Meno(pause) concerns. This venture follows her previous success in founding and running one of the largest naturopathic clinics in the country.
Dr. Stills’ personal journey of overcoming her own serious health challenges underscores her commitment to the wellness path she advocates for her patients. Her life is a testament to the principles she teaches: from embracing a healthy Paleo diet and a rigorous vitamin regimen to prioritizing restorative sleep and physical movement through yoga, hiking, and dancing.
Whether meditating in solitude, cheering for the NY Jets, baking paleo cookies, or exploring the world collecting passport stamps with her family and adorable granddaughters, she embodies the RED-Hot life she champions for others.

The Truth About Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

Sharon Stills, NMD

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Sharon Stills, NMD