Maximizing Hormones, Physique & Running Through Perimenopause
#151 - My Doctor Offered Me Birth Control to Manage My Symptoms: Here's Why I Politely Declined
What happens when the treatment offered to quiet your symptoms also quiets the hormonal signals you are trying to understand and working hard to support? In this episode, Louise Valentine, a leading functional health and fitness expert for perimenopausal active women and recreational runners, shares why she decided not to use birth control as a way to manage perimenopause symptoms. As an example of things to consider, she walks through her complicated health history, including periods of underfueling, overtraining, gut issues, hormone challenges, and the difficulty of navigating fragmented women’s healthcare. Louise explains why she wants to address root cause factors first, such as gut health imbalances, stress, cortisol regulation, and adjusting nutrition, lifestyle, and training. She clarifies why hormone suppression therapy is not the right next step for her. You will learn the importance of tracking symptoms, asking questions about testing and scans, and understanding that what works for one woman may not work for another. Ready to become an informed participant and fierce advocate in your own care? The bottomline is: Symptoms can provide useful information about our body's individual needs, and women deserve conversations that consider their individual health history, goals, and options rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all or outdated approaches. RESOURCES + LINKS Learn & level up with my free nutrition guide & award-winning 1:1 Academy to thrive through perimenopause with less stress: https://www.breakingthroughwellness.com Check out my FullScript here where you can see curated supplement picks, by topic, to address your concerns & save 25% off! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you! Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass here . Link to check out Function Health & save $25 off comprehensive, proactive blood work using code “LVALENTINE11” here . $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you! Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders: https://www.getkion.com/pages/maximizing Episode Highlights: (0:00) Intro (2:46) Why Louise declined birth control (5:14) Her complicated hormone and health history (8:32) How fueling can affect female hormones (11:08) Rebuilding hormone health naturally (13:33) Challenges with fragmented healthcare (15:30) Stress, cortisol, and hormone production (18:28) Why she is delaying HRT (19:13) Being offered hormone suppression therapy (20:06) Birth control for symptom management (23:55) When hormone suppression may have a place (24:22) Why symptoms can provide useful data (28:45) Navigating gaps in women’s healthcare (32:32) Advocating for further testing and scans (34:37) Stress, DHEA, and hormone health (36:45) Outro Tune in weekly to "Maximizing Hormones, Physique, and Running Through Perimenopause" for our simple female-specific science-based revolution. Let's unlock our best with less stress! I'd love to connect! Email support@breakingthroughwellness.com Please note if you want to be a podcast guest, there is a fee and interview process. This is safe space and curated Community exclusively for women who love to feel, look and run our best without B.S. noise, endless pills, extreme diets or misleading fads.
