Hormones - hindrance or heaven-sent?

SuperMotivated56

I’m a forty-something female and at a crossroads of deciding whether to go ahead with hormone therapy or not...
I’d be really interested in any knowledge sharing and personal experiences in particular, with regards to how hormone therapy may have affected your physical goals and emotionally too. What effects did you notice in your body - whether positive or negative. 💭
Thanks for sharing

kshama2001

What's the specific medical condition you are seeking to treat and with what exact hormone therapy?

I was happy with my experience with Prometrium, a bio-identical progesterone, but would not be interested in synthetic female hormones.

SuperMotivated56

Thanks for your response, kshama2001. It’s menopause that I’m seeking to treat. I’m really nervous about the declining estrogen and progesterone levels and the effects that this may have. I have lost most of the weight that I wanted to and am looking more now at building muscle and toning, which I believe will be that much harder being deficient in these hormones.

AnnPT77

Honestly, I haven't found menopause a big issue for muscle, though I'm sure (at 64) that this will gradually get more difficult with age (distinct from menopausal status). I wasn't very active at all until my mid-40s, and by then I was not only in chemotherapy-induced menopause (which is actual menopause in hormonal terms) but also taking drugs to keep my body from effectively making estrogen in fat cells and adrenals (aromatization), which is normally an ongoing estrogen source after menopause. That drug regimen coincided with a decent muscle- and strength-building phase, for me.

Truly, I think progressive resistance exercise, protein intake, generally good nutrition, and persistence are going to be a much bigger deal in building muscle and toning than ER/PR levels. I'm not very persistent about lifting these days (baaad, Ann! ), but very active, and I've seen no sign that I can't tone or build muscle anymore.

I gather that peri-menopause is a bit of a trial for some in other ways, but mine was nearly instant onset. Beyond that, I personally haven't perceived menopause to much of an obstacle to anything I've tried.

YMMV, obviously. Certainly, I've known others who believed menopause to be an obstacle, though I don't recall anyone who found it an obstacle to muscle-building (and I can think of several who've either built or retained plenty of pre-built muscle post-menopausally).

SuperMotivated56

Thank you, Ann, for your response and for providing such an intimate look into your own experience. This is certainly very encouraging, thank you 🌸

KickboxFanatic

I'm 47, pre-menopause with heavy night sweats and hot flashes. I've always used non-hormonal birth control as the pill would cause crying and rage issues. To try to combat the hot flashes and night sweats my gyno put me on a low dose progestin (not progesterin) with no estrogen about 6 months ago. The first 3 months were emotional hell as my system adjusted. I'm halfway thru my 6th month and I haven't had a hot flash (still flush warm in the face sometimes, but rarely) or a night sweat in 4 months. My energy has also increased, allowing me to be more active during the day and increase my daily NEAT burn which is helping with fat loss. I'm a powerlifter eating at a deficit so I'm not really increasing any muscle mass but I have seen my strength gains increase a bit faster than it has in the past. That could be from just the increase in energy and have nothing to do with the hormones; I haven't taken the time to research any of that.

liftingbro

Many women still build muscle after their hormonal situation changes. Yes, it is likely to be more difficult than if you were 20, but that goes for men and women. Building muscle is much slower than burning fat no matter what the hormonal situation is, but you are always able to build muscle even into old age.