Wise Traditions Fall 2015

When Synthetic Hormones Manipulate Women

Joette Calabrese, HMC, CCH, RSHom

Published in Wise Traditions, Fall 2015, “Homeopathy versus conventional drugs”

As always, I’m here to convince you that homeopathy stimulates the body’s natural ability to heal imbalances while synthetic, allopathic methods cause more problems. I’m reminded of the words of Dr. William Osler, a founding professor of Johns Hopkins Hospital: “The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.”

Here I offer a proposal for consideration: is it possible that chemical manipulation via birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, and even bio-identical hormones can cause a woman to suffer a seemingly new condition and even change the biology of her thought processes? Is it possible that these changes could cause a family to break apart? Could a woman’s endocrine system that has been manipulated by synthetic hormones induce her to become disinterested in her husband and family, alter her personality and promote obesity?

I DON’T LOVE HIM

It started with her lack of interest in intimacy with her husband because she claimed he had an unacceptable odor. Next, she began sleeping in the guest room. It wasn’t long before she began spending nights out with a friend from work who happened to be divorced. Robin was in the process of walking away from her twenty-five-year marriage because, as she stated, “I just don’t love him anymore. Maybe I used to, but in the last year, his mere existence is an annoyance to me.” When prodded as to what prompted these feelings about her husband Will, Robin cited a wellrehearsed list of his infractions over the years: “He didn’t tell his mother to stop nagging me.” “He’s messy around the house.” “He watches too much golf on TV.” “He’s behaved this way since the first year of our marriage.” And lastly, “I have no interest in him in the bedroom anymore.”

Wait. Didn’t she just say he’s always been this way? In spite of the fact that he’s always demonstrated these idiosyncrasies, they have only become bothersome in the last year or so. And it seems rather coincidental that this is precisely the time when Robin’s hormonal equilibrium became unsettled. Menopausal hot flashes have become part of her daily experience, her libido has diminished greatly, and her middle has become noticeably thicker. Is it a coincidence that she had taken birth control pills throughout her entire marriage and had recently commenced taking hormone replacement creams advised by her doctor? I contend that it is quite possible that her current unhappiness is not a matter of her husband Will’s cumulative transgressions, but rather Robin’s changing hormones, which unfortunately are being manipulated synthetically, particularly at such a delicate and significant time in her life. Menopause can be trying enough without the further insult of “patented” drugs.

THE FEMALE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Consider the study of the remedy Sepia 200, a very dilute, homeopathically prepared medicine made from the ink of the cuttlefish. Some say that the ancient physicians Dioscorides, Soranus, Plinius and Marcellus used parts of the cuttlefish for female ailments such as leucorrhoea, gonorrhea, catarrh of the bladder, and gravel and spasms of the bladder. But it wasn’t until the 1800s that Sepia found its way to a more energetically developed and universal form via the homeopathic method. Its effectiveness was fully proven by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, during the early 1800s. Although it is chiefly known as a medicine for women’s endocrine conditions, it can also be used to treat men who suffer from headaches, as well as for ailments caused by synthetic hormone
treatments. It should be noted that even when there are no synthetics involved, a woman can experience a loss of interest in her husband and even her children when there is a pathology associated with hormonal imbalance.

Sepia is frequently prescribed for women suffering from postpartum depression who feel overwhelmed by their new motherly responsibilities. It is also an important medicine for women who have experienced consecutive births, suffer from menstrual headaches, or even for those suffering from a thyroid condition in relation to the aforementioned circumstances. In fact, Sepia ought to be considered whenever the female hormones are in flux, particularly for middle-aged and older women.

Side-effects from synthetic hormones influence more than the emotions. They can cause long-suffering physical ailments as well. Take the case of Juanita, a young woman who suffered from severe lower back pain. She had seen numerous doctors and endured months’ worth of tests but nothing disclosed the cause nor relieved her pain. She made it a general policy to avoid pain relievers because for her they tended to make any of her conditions worse, yet her doctor was so convincing that she eventually succumbed to the advice. Accustomed to, and dependent upon, high intensity workouts to keep her weight in check, she was no longer able to remain active because of her back pain. She gained a considerable amount of weight—more than would be expected from a simple lack of exercise. At the point of gaining nearly seventy pounds she desperately sought the aid of homeopathy. In this case something else was clearly at play.

When questioned in depth, Juanita revealed that the pain in her lower back began shortly after beginning the Depo-Provera injectable birth control regime. “It’s great!” her gynecologist had declared. “I take an injection of it yearly myself. And best of all, no nasty period! What could be better?”

What could be better would be genuine health and a birth control method that respects the innate wisdom, expression and complex functioning of a woman’s body. The day Juanita visited her doctor when the drug was prescribed, she had reported that she had been experiencing long, painful periods. It gave her doctor the perfect justification for choosing the drug. And as promised, once the injections commenced, her monthly cramps were successfully eliminated as she in fact no longer menstruated. Instead, her menses were replaced with unrelenting pain in her lower back. This is the part of allopathic medicine that is the most sinister. It “works” with the promise of removing this or that symptom, yet never reveals the price that will come with the bargain.

THE DIVORCE PILL

After years of hearing the same kinds of stories as Robin’s, I have become suspicious. I’ve noted far too many times the same scenario for this to be a simple coincidence. The medical history usually reveals the presence of synthetic hormones or a history of synthetic birth control pills.

Do I have conclusive data to prove my suspicion? Can I provide numbers to substantiate this hypothesis? No. I simply relay this information based on my repeated experiences from having worked with women who confide in me. Once I noticed this pattern, however, I researched my reflections and found that I was not alone in this observation. In 1988 Time Magazine published an exposé entitled, “The Divorce Pill: Has the Pill Caused an Increase in Divorces?”

Drudge Report and Instapundit recently published information on a British study: “Commenting on the latest study, the researchers said that it could indicate that the Pill disrupts women’s ability to judge the genetic compatibility of men by means of their smell. They said that this might not only impact on fertility and miscarriage risk, but could even contribute to the end of relationships as women who stop or start taking the Pill no longer find their boyfriend or husband so attractive.”

In a 2012 study conducted by S. Craig Roberts et al., titled “Relationship satisfaction and outcome in women who meet their partner while using oral contraception,” the researchers concluded: “Our results demonstrate that widespread use of hormonal contraception may contribute to relationship outcome, with implications for human reproductive behavior, family cohesion and quality of life.”

PROTOCOLS FOR ROBIN AND JUANITA

Once Juanita connected the dots, it was clear what she needed to do; that is, stop submitting to synthetic hormone injections. While doing so might eliminate any forthcoming back pain, it would not halt the pain she was presently experiencing. Remember, one Depo-Provera shot is intended to suppress menses for one full year. And often once a drug is used, the side-effects won’t diminish for months, or even years, after cessation. This means Juanita might need to wait for the side-effects to dissipate and likely be plagued with her old sufferings at the same time, hoping against hope she had stopped taking the shot soon enough to make a full recovery.

I have noted time and again that when a drug is halted the symptoms they were intended to relieve frequently increase greatly. There is a boomerang effect in which the body must compensate for the efforts it put forth that allowed for the suppression of the initial symptoms. This is where homeopathy comes in. Since it is a corrective medicine, it is only needed until the body has completed its work.

Dr. James Gibson reports in Studies of Homeopathic Remedies that, “The main tissue affinity of Sepia is with the endocrine glands, resulting in hormonal imbalance of the adreno-cortico-gonadal-pituitary system. Relative adrenal insufficiency is associated with a preponderance of androgens over estrogens.” In Frans Vermuellen’s Concordant Materia Medica it is stated that the person in need of Sepia is “irritable and easily offended” with “an aversion to husband and to members of her family, and dwells on past disagreeable occurrences.”

In the Homeopathic Clinical Repertory by Robin Murphy, N.D., under the rubrics “Pain: back, from suppressed menses,” Sepia is listed as one of the eight most important medicines.

We initiate the homeopathic method with Camphor 200c, one dose for one day only. It aids in antidoting allopathic drugs. For cases like Juanita’s, the medicine that follows best is Sepia 200c, to be taken once weekly for as many weeks as necessary to make the adjustment. In her particular case it took just over one month until one morning her menstruation resumed. This provided her a sense of relief she hadn’t felt in well over a year. Concomitantly, as though on cue, the back pain was conspicuously and happily absent. After a year and a half of mysterious back pain, this was extraordinarily satisfying. However, it took another two months before her periods normalized. During those two months, she experienced flooding and severe menstrual cramps in the same way she had prior to starting the synthetic drugs. But we’re not done. Now we use the homeopathics that should have been employed for this condition in the first place. For heavy and painful menses the Banerji Protocol of Arnica montana 3X, along with Sabina 6X, twice daily is the best place to start. By the second day of this protocol Juanita’s pain was manageable. The month that followed showed even better improvement until finally her periods normalized after three months. Quite a journey. We only hope she’ll not fall for another medical scheme in the future.

As for Robin, well, she couldn’t get her head wrapped around the idea that her decision to leave her husband was anything other than reasonable. I have often found this to be so. Our hormones are so powerful we often confuse their influence with sound thinking. Robin filed for divorce, moved out and rented an apartment with her friend, leaving her two adolescent children with their father. Will is puzzled and to this day wonders where he went wrong.

EMPTY PROMISES OF SYNTHETIC HORMONES

Patented drugs are far from natural or genuinely bio-identical. They represent a treatment method that is an allopathic, symptom-suppressing approach decked out in savvy marketing tactics that most conventional doctors hold in high regard. Haven’t we all had enough by now? Instead, when there is a condition that arises from a hormonal upheaval, it ought to be met by a medicine that truly corrects the problem, not suppresses its symptoms. Do it the right way and get yourself, your daughters and granddaughters off of disingenuous pharmaceutical synthetics and address the underlying condition with nutrition and homeopathy. Our most precious endocrine system is worth the extra effort.

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Fall 2015