Female Hormones and Autoimmune Disease - the Connection

[Zizzle]

http://www.celiac.com/articles/22549/1/ ... Page1.html

I never heard of DHEA and the possibility that a deficiency may contribute to our autoimmune problems. It's interesting, but I wonder if it's relevant to a woman who menstruates every month on time and with no other obvious hormonal imbalances? I wonder if this deficiency could be caused by birth-control pill usage, i.e. you replace your naturally produced estrogen and progesterone with synthetics, and it's no wonder they can't go back to normal after discontinuing the pill? The pill is also associated with decreased libido, even permanently after the pill is discountinued, which makes me wonder if it does permanent damage to the androgen hormone production in women (required for libido).

[Pat]

I have been tested for DHEA and am deficient. I was taking it orally and even after taking it for about a year it was still low. They doubled it and it was still low. They said I probably wasn't absorbing it in the gut. No joke! So I quit when I quit all my other supplement when I started the leap diet.

Pat

PS I am way past contraceptives so I didn't vote.

[jmayk8]

my LC is about 85% better since stopping the pill a few weeks ago. I was on it for 10+ years bc of my endometriosis.
I went to see a new doctor who studies functional medicine and he told me that my endometriosis was worsened by my wheat intolorence which turned into full blown celiac. He said that my periods should be better now that I am gluten free. I have gotten it once and it wasn't at all like i remembered (since i was on the pill constantly bc getting my period was a no-no from my gyno's advice) I'm waiting to see in a few days how it's going to be...Again, i was on the pill for over 10 years, so i'm sure my body will obviously take a LONG time to get back to 'normal' or whatever normal is for me these days...

[MBombardier]

It's the experience of quite a few of us to have a flare connected with our periods. You probably remember that from other discussions on the forum. For me, it just lasts a couple of days, but it's fairly intense.

[Gabes-Apg]

If the norplant is the same as implanon then i have had them for 9 years.

[Zizzle]

Pat,
You should vote because i believe hormone use, no matter how long ago, could have an impact on hormones long-term. I suppose i could have asked about HRT too for post-menopausal women. Could the widespread use of Premarin/prempro in the last decade have an impact on MC and other diseases in older women??

I was on the pill for 10 years and stopped 8 years ago. My IBS symptoms started 9 years ago. Could they be related?

Marliss,
My MC improves during PMS and worsens with my period, but i attribute that to menstrual cramps and their proximity to the colon, not to mention the extra prostaglandins produced during that time.

[sarkin]

Z & fellow women of PP -

I voted, though I'm post-meno. I took the pill, I think twice, each time for 'a while' - at one time I knew the exact dates and durations. I would have been off it for some time before MC started. But it certainly could have been a factor, in one way or another.

Like Marliss, I definitely had fluctuating symptoms (before MC diagnosis) around my period. I remember telling a doctor I had low-key D around/before my period, and she just nodded sagely and said 'prostaglandins.'

As a TCM practitioner I knew once said... "all connected.

[starfire]

I voted but it was a LONG time ago when I took them.

Love, Shirley

[Pat]

Ok, I voted yes. I took birth control in my 20s for several years. I never had any problems with them. They were much stronger then than they are now. The hormones I take now are bioidentical. They are estrogen and progesterone. Chemically they are an exact match as what the body produces. I only take a very small amount. I tried synthetic ones and they made my breasts hurt. The Gyn said that was the lowest dose on the market hence the bioidentical. They test your saliva and find where you are and then for me I use a cream that my body absorbs. They retest your saliva months later and see where you are then adjust. I am taking a much lower dose than synthetic and it is identical not just similar to what my body makes. They make it from yams but only the chemicals are used no yam in there.

Pat

[Zizzle]

Hmmm...came across this article about the rise of RA among women. Can they actually suspect NOT ENOUGH artificial hormones from birth control pills as a cause?!?? How about more people taking the pill overall?

Rheumatoid Arthritis Incidence on the Rise in Women

Posted: 06/07/2010; The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women has risen during the period of 1995 to 2007, according to a newly published study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic. This rise in RA follows a 4-decade period of decline and study authors speculate environmental factors such as cigarette smoking, vitamin D deficiency, and lower dose synthetic estrogens in oral contraceptives may be the source of the increase. Details of the study which includes more than 50 years of RA epidemiology data appear in the June issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.

...

"We observed a modest increase of RA incidence in women during the study period, which followed a sharp decline in incidence during the previous 4 decades," said Dr. Gabriel. Results show that RA incidence in women increased by 2.5% per year from 1995 to 2007, while a decrease of 0.5% was noted for men. Researchers did not find a disproportionate increase in RA incidence in any particular age group over the study period. "As expected we found an increase in RA prevalence during the same time period," added Dr. Gabriel. The overall age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of RA increased from 0.62% in 1995 to 0.72% in 2005.

Prior studies have clearly demonstrated that cigarette smoking is associated with a greater risk for RA development in both sexes. While smoking rates in the U.S. are declining, the rate is significantly slower in women than men, which researchers believe may, in part, explain the modest increase of RA incidence in women. Researchers also note that lower doses of estrogens found in modern oral contraceptives offer less protection against RA development then at the previously higher doses found in older medications, which they suspect may contribute to the increased RA incidence among women. Furthermore, several studies have shown vitamin D deficiency to be associated with RA development and coupled with evidence that this deficiency, particularly in women, has risen over the past decades the Mayo team considered it a possible contributor to the upward trend in RA.

[TXBrenda]

Posted my vote. My hysterectomy was 8 years before my MC diagnosis. I took the pill for less than a year 88-89, too long ago to remember what it was. Was diagnosed with MC while I taking HRT. Only took HRT for about a year, didn't help me. What I know now is that my thyroid lvls are low, low, low. I now take biodentical hormones - estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, porcine. Feel much better now.

[Pat]

Brenda,

I'm with you on the bioidenticals, but what is porcine? I thought that had something to do with swine. Are you on thyroid meds?

Pat

[TXBrenda]

Pat,
The porcine is my thyroid med, pig thyroid. Before this compounded medication, I was on westhyroid or synthroid. Which ever one is for people with allergies - because of my MC. Because my dose is very high, I told my doctor I didn't want to count all those little pills, lol. This is about the time there was the change in armor thyroid medication.
Take care.