“I began cBHT about 12 years ago. At the time, I was in my mi...”
I began cBHT about 12 years ago. At the time, I was in my mid-50's, a couple of years into menopause. I had struggles with depression starting in my 40s, and menopause made the depression worse. Severe sweats and hot flashes kept me from sleeping.
Although I was concerned because of a family history of breast cancer, I decided to try hormone therapy because my quality of life was so bad. I first tried FDA-approved hormones. My mood and hot flashes improved a little, but the doctor prescribing the medications quit her practice, and I had to find a new doctor.
The new doctor I found used cBHT. She was able to customize dosages in a way that was life-changing for me. My depression disappeared. I slept soundly. I was actually happy to be alive. It was amazing.
Because of concerns about the breast cancer history in my family, my doctor felt strongly that I should decrease my estrogen dosage and rely more heavily on estriol. My depression returned. I tolerated the depression for many months, but eventually decided that my quality of life was worth the risk of breast cancer. I gave my doctor written assurance that I understood the risk, she increased my dosage, and the depression disappeared.
A short time after that, because I had moved, I changed doctors. The new doctor was not comfortable with my estrogen prescription and switched me to biest. I lost some joy in life, gained some weight, but he kept the dose high enough that I didn't fall back into depression.
Then, 4 years ago, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. This was not a surprise given my family history, and there's no way to know if I would have gotten cancer had I not used cBHT. After much research; discussion with my hormone doctor, my surgeon and my oncologist; and a lot of agonizing and tears, I decided to have both breasts removed. My cancer was hormone positive, but I decided to pass on SERMs and to continue cBHT at the lowest dose that would keep me from becoming depressed again. As I explained to my oncologist, I would truly rather die young than live a long life chronically depressed. After my surgery, my doctor and I actually cut the cBHT dose too much, and I against was depressed. He was able to raise the dose just enough to pull me out of depression. It's a compromise dose -- I miss the joie de vive of the higher estrogen dosage, but I'm not depressed, and I feel the lower dose is less risky. I've had no cancer recurrence.
As my story illustrates, a big advantage of cBHT is the ability to customize dosage to address individual situations. As my health has change, so has my cBHT. One-size-fits-all would not had addressed my needs.
I would also like to add that in the over a decade that I have used cBHT, as well as compounded thyroid medication, I have NEVER had a problem with inconsistencies in quality or dosages. Believe me, if there were changes each time the prescription was filled, I would notice. That has never happened.
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