Integrative Way: Hope for menopausal symptoms

A few points about this article in the SacramentoBee.com (and yes, that is me commenting at the end of the article on their site):

1. I am so SICK of every article that mentions hormones and menopause only cites the WHI Study in 2002. You would think that no other study had ever been done on the efficacy of hormones.

2. Media articles are more often than not using the terms "progesterone" and "progestin" interchangeably. One more time, progesterone is bioidentical, progestin is a DRUG, and is NOT bioidentical. I'm amazed (and saddened) at how often even health care providers use the terms interchangeably. Drives. Me. Crazy.

3. Women without a uterus (and from talking to a lot of women, there sure are a lot of us out there!) absolutely need progesterone for true hormone optimization. If they are not making enough of it on their own (and most aren't), they need supplementation. My male doctor takes progesterone 3 times a day-----and he told me he doesn't have a uterus.

4. I have taken a course that uses the Jon Kabat-Zinn program for meditation/stress reduction. I did learn some things from it, but it was one of those things where I had a hard time because his voice drove me nuts. That's a very subjective thing in any meditation program, some people loved his voice and found it very soothing, I found it akin to hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. I now use Andrew Johnson's meditation apps on my IPhone, he has a very gentle Scottish brogue that makes me just want to relax and go with the flow. As I said in my comment on the article, I am all for complementary therapies to deal with hot flashes or any other health concern----and I agree that good meditation hygiene will lessen the suffering of hot flashes for some people. However, to get to the root of the hot flashes, you need hormone balance. Period.