why does the Pill help many women?

Peata

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In my 20s, I was on several different kinds of birth control pills over the years. Here are just a couple examples of bcp formulas that cleared me up and kept me clear no matter what...

formula #1: 1 mg of ethynodiol diacetate and 50 mcg of ethinyl estradiol
formulat #2: 0.4 mg norethindrone and 0.035 mg ethinyl estradiol

The first formula gave me severe morning sickness sometimes.

Anyway, my questions are, looking at estrogen through the RP lens, why did the Pill do such a great job of taking care of my acne? Why does the Pill benefit a lot of women with various hormonal issues?

I have no interest in going back on a pill, I am just wanting to know. As I have been battling my hormonal acne lately no matter what I do, my mind is on this stuff.
 

messtafarian

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I think it's because the hormones you were taking took over your natural cycle and rerouted the intersection at which your system was producing androgens. It wasn't the estrogen -- both hormones just stopped the cascade that was creating too much testosterone.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Thanks for the info - makes sense. I wasn't sure, but was thinking that they created a balance of hormones -kept them stable and steady.

I just need to figure out how to stop the androgen cascade now. I still don't have a full grasp of what more I can do. I use progesterone, I've changed up my diet a lot. I use some supplements.
 

Mittir

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In an interview RP discussed how estrogen helps with hot flushes in menopausal women by
shutting down sweat glands. I do not remember the details, but it was something
about body's response to stress created by estrogen.
RP often cites an old study where lack of PUFA caused skin problems,
which were later cured by B vitamins. The explanation was that PUFA
lowers metabolism and by that it lowers the need for vitamins and minerals.
When someone goes PUFA free their need for nutrient is much higher.
Estrogen also lowers metabolism and body temperature, it looks quite similar to
what happened in PUFA experiment.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Looking over cronometer, I seem to be doing well with getting my nutrients, especially since I increased sugar, milk, fruit over the last couple weeks. Sometimes I'm a little under in B1 or Folate.

I THINK my nutrition is covered, unless I'm just not absorbing something well, or need even higher amounts than I realize.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Yes, that's my most consistent problem.

During other parts of cycle, the estrogen dominance rears up. But the acne is nearly always around to varying degrees.
 

Gabriel

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In this study, contraceptives were found to lower estrogen and increase testosterone. Show when they actually work, they may do this by being anti-estrogenic??
 

messtafarian

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B vitamins and topicals. Like maybe dissolve an aspirin in water and apply it? I think your diet and your hormone replacement sound really good so logically those are the next two places to go.
 

Mittir

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There is a section on Danny Roddy's email advice page of RP

VITAMIN A/DANDRUFF/ACNE

Yes, it's definitely hard to get them coordinated when there's an imbalance in one direction or the other. For several years, when I had an extremely high metabolic rate, I needed 100,000 units per day during sunny weather to prevent acne and ingrown whiskers, but when I moved to a cloudy climate, suddenly that much was too much, and suppressed my thyroid. The average person is likely to be hypothyroid, and to need only 5,000 units per day. Avoiding large amounts of carotene, and getting plenty of vitamin B12 to be able to convert any carotene that's in your food, helps to use vitamin A efficiently.

Yes, vitamin A and estrogen are antagonistic, and while estrogen promotes keratinization (shedding of skin cells), vitamin A opposes it. Since vitamin A is highly unsaturated, in excess it suppresses the thyroid, so it has to be balanced with the thyroid; the combination is effective for increasing progesterone and decreasing estrogen, slowing the turnover of skin cells, and making the skin cells function longer before flaking off. Plugged pores, combined with a local shift toward synthesizing inflammatory substances, foster bacterial infection. Bright light stimulates the production of steroids, and consumes vitamin A very quickly, but when the balance is right, the acne clears up in just a day or two. Cream, butter, eggs, and liver are good sources of vitamin A. When people supplement thyroid and eat liver once or twice a week, their acne and dandruff (and many other problems) usually clear up very quickly. It was acne and dandruff that led me into studying the steroids and thyroid, and in the process I found that they were related to constipation and food sensitivity.

I found that I had an extremely high vitamin A requirement, increased by stress or bright light, and that it related to thyroid function. Usually, thyroid and vitamin A are the supplements that stop acne.

I avoid carotene, because it blocks thyroid and steroid production, and very large, excessive, amounts of vitamin A, retinol, can do the same. I use halibut liver oil-derived vitamin A, or retinyl palmitate.

A solution of aspirin in water on the skin helps with the inflammation, and is mildly germicidal.

Vitamin A deficiency is a common cause of dandruff.
http://www.dannyroddy.com/2011/12/29/ra ... tandi.html
 
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Peata

Peata

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Thanks, gals, I'm definitely going to look further into the nutrition aspect.

The info Mittir gave had me look up another thread on Vit. A: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1491

In that thread, Edward was talking about the need for zinc for proper Vit. A utilisation. Most days I get between 5,000 - 8,000 vit. A through diet (vit. A is in my milk, I can't help that.) On the day I eat liver, it goes up to 10,000 - 20,000.

My zinc, while reaching or exceeding the RDA, is usually 8 - 12 mg.

If you are eating liver and your acne still reoccurs it is because you are not getting enough zinc. If you take a large dose of Vitamin A and acne temporary goes away it is because of the thyroid suppressing aspect of the large dose. If your zinc intake is insufficient you cannot metabolize Vitamin A efficiently. If zinc is sufficient your requirement for Vitamin A will decrease. Vitamin A metabolism is dependent on zinc status. - Edward.

I think I will try increasing zinc and a little more B's before adding more A. I'm going to take a supplement. I'm just not turned onto the shellfish lately after getting some bad frozen salad shrimp from the grocery store. I think it had been thawed and then refrozen in the store and had gone bad. I envision someone putting it in their cart then changing their mind, taking it out and sticking it on a shelf where it thawed for however long, then someone threw it back in the cold bin. Thankfully I smelled it before I ate it. And I'm trying to get the taste for oysters but so far not very much. I think if more zinc is going to help, I can get it in me faster and in more volume through a supplement.

I'll be sure to update.
 

fabiomln

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from: http://www.dannyroddy.com/main/2013/5/2 ... nd-disease.

Sometimes, LH and FSH are referred to as "the menopausal hormones" and can cause many complications in the aging woman. Administering "estrogen replacement therapy" can sometimes have a beneficial effect on symptoms that coincide with menopause. While this may seem strange, P.W. Wise found that regulatory nerves in the brain responsible for releasing FSH and LH were "desensitized" in relation to their exposure to estrogen (Wise PW, 2010). Supplemental estrogen suppressed these pituitary hormones.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Actually I don't think I'll be able to use zinc supplements. I took one from a bottle that I had in the cabinet from a while back and it made me feel sick. My stomach hurts and is kinda nauseous.

Guess I'll try to fix oysters in a way that I can tolerate. I tried eating one out of the can but I could barely do it because of the taste/look/texture. I think I'll bread and fry some and make a dipping sauce. It's not ideal Peat, but that's the only way I can envision getting them down.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Thanks for that info, Fabiomin. I guess just because the estrogen is fitting in somewhere and relieving symptoms doesn't mean it's the ideal solution.
 
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Peata

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Gabriel said:
In this study, contraceptives were found to lower estrogen and increase testosterone. Show when they actually work, they may do this by being anti-estrogenic??

Interesting. It goes against what we hear about taking hormones.
 

fabiomln

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Peata said:
Thanks for that info, Fabiomin. I guess just because the estrogen is fitting in somewhere and relieving symptoms doesn't mean it's the ideal solution.


There are better ways to lower LF, FSH and in general pituitary hormones, for exemple by thyroid hormones, progesterone, vitamina E, magnesium.

Yet estrogen replacement therapy can sometimes have a beneficial effect on symptoms.
 
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Peata

Peata

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Definitely. All those years when I took the Pill, I knew it was just covering symptoms, but I had absolutely no other solution for the horrible acne. I felt like I'd be stuck on the Pill for life.

I tried going off it over the years, and every time my face would explode in awful cystic acne. I'd get depressed.

By the time I was 30 though, I felt like the Pill was contributing to metabolic problems. When I went on Metformin, I was able to go off the Pill and continue having clear skin.

But when I hit age 36, even the Met wasn't enough, and I was clobbered with some bad cystic acne among all the other estrogen dominance symptoms. My gyn. could only offer the Pill again but I resisted. I had a feeling it was all due to estrogen and tried different supplements and diets to try to help, but they didn't. Abstaining from alcohol helped a lot. Ironically, going onto the Peat eating, the acne has become worse again but I feel differently about it this time because I can tell a lot of hormonal changes are taking place because of the Peat stuff. So I feel like it's a matter of riding this out and tweaking nutrition, and I'll get there.

That's the hope. I feel so good otherwise that I have no interest in any other woe anyway.
 

HDD

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Peata said:
Actually I don't think I'll be able to use zinc supplements. I took one from a bottle that I had in the cabinet from a while back and it made me feel sick. My stomach hurts and is kinda nauseous.

Guess I'll try to fix oysters in a way that I can tolerate. I tried eating one out of the can but I could barely do it because of the taste/look/texture. I think I'll bread and fry some and make a dipping sauce. It's not ideal Peat, but that's the only way I can envision getting them down.

With cocktail sauce on a cracker. Not ideal Peat, but easier than frying. Oyster stew also works.
 

charlie

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The oyster stew I made with cream from milk makes it delish!
 
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Peata

Peata

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I'll try those at some point.

Right now I just fried up the can of oysters and I actually love them. I soaked them in milk for a bit, rolled in flour, fried til nice and crispy brown in coconut oil. Well salted. Now this is a taste I can get behind.

I made up a dipping sauce with sour cream and garlic/chili condiment. It tastes and feels almost like I'm eating fried mushrooms. I think next time I'll dip them in ketchup.

I can definitely see adding oysters to my weekly lineup now.
 

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