Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
Natural and nutritional treatments for four types of polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. Zinc and inositol can reduce symptoms of androgen excess.
The pill was an important step in our struggle to legalize contraception. I celebrate that, of course. Hormonal birth control can also be medicine for debilitating conditions such as severe endometriosis and very heavy periods. I celebrate that.
What I don’t celebrate is the distorted message that hormonal birth control is the only birth control. And I don’t celebrate its widespread prescription as “hormone balance” for any hormonal symptom that might arise in women and teenage girls.
I invite you to think differently about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the types of PCOS.
PCOS is not one thing. It is not one disease. Instead, PCOS is a set of symptoms, with the key symptom being impaired ovulation which leads to androgen excess or a high level of male hormones. Androgen excess then causes the common PCOS symptoms of hair loss, hirsutism, and acne.
To treat PCOS you must first ask: “Why, in your particular case, do you not ovulate?”
As my patients can tell you, I prescribe magnesium for almost every hormonal condition, including PCOS, insulin resistance, PMDD, migraines, and perimenopause.
Magnesium deficiency is common because modern soils are depleted, and your body dumps magnesium during stress. So, if you’re under stress, you probably need magnesium.
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Ovulation is beneficial because it’s how women make hormones.
Every month, as the ovaries get ready to release an egg, they pump out estrogen. Estrogen, in turn, stimulates serotonin, which is why women can be more outgoing and energetic in the few days leading up to ovulation.
Every month, after ovulation, one of the ovaries releases a huge amount of progesterone—the calming, soothing, anti-inflammatory hormone.