The anatomy and physiology of the female body is designed to reproduce. When we suppress the reproductive system of a female, we suppress entire bodily functions. As a homoeopath, I see numerous obstacles to cure in practise, one in particular; estrogen excess from the Oral Contraceptive Pill.
Hormones Associated With The Pill
Along with estrogen, progesterone is necessary to prepare the uterus for menstruation. These are natural occurring hormones secreted by the ovaries regulating the reproductive system. When on the pill, it is the already-high levels of progesterone that prevent pregnancy by stopping production of more eggs when your progesterone levels rise naturally during your menstrual cycle.
PMS, heavy bleeding, tender breasts, skin changes and increased appetite before the menstrual period are all symptoms of progesterone excess. In practise, I consider this a block that holds the skin layer to aggravate at the time of PMT. High progesterone levels occur due to many factors, including poor health, and the OCP.
Some allopathic medications, including the OCP, can leave an imprint on the nervous system, resulting in functional disturbances. When taking the OCP, it prevents the ovaries from producing eggs during ovulation, thereby can form cysts. When a follicle fails to rupture and release an egg, it leaves remaining fluid that can form cysts.
When women have side effects during or when starting the OCP, there is a strong consideration that this is an obstacle to cure.
The Side Effects of Excess Estrogen
The OCP has a long list of side effects (including acne – which is actually treated WITH the OCP, chloasma, vaginal thrush, headaches, & mood disturbances), which are important for me to consider when a patient presents with a seemingly unrelated illness. Libido changes are also proposed to be due to estrogen.
The vaginal thrush with headaches and mood disturbance may be related to an increase in copper levels, which affect mood, sleep and liver function. Synthetic oestrogens will cause copper retention and biliary stasis in susceptible individuals. Many of these patients have low zinc — another reason cooper is retained to toxic levels — and the skin remains the eliminating organ for toxic waste. When the copper is really high, Zinc and Vit C supplementation is beneficial. (See my ebook on “The Secret to Beautiful Glowing Skin” and get the inside right first! Then go and enjoy your facials!).
There are several homoeopathic remedies that are indicated for therapeutic treatment of excess estrogen, (and also ovarian pathologies such as endometriosis, dermoid cysts, PCOS) and can also antidote the consequences of estrogen overload, and the long-term disturbance.
Through my professional eyes, side effects of any medications are the body’s way of indicating to us that something is not right. Homoeopathics are a very gentle, natural, and effective way of treating both disease and side effects of allopathic medication and bringing the body back to equilibrium.
The Homoeopathic Remedy Folliculinum
In cases of disturbances resulting from the OCP I would use a remedy called folliculinum.
The basic principles of homoeopathy are “like cures like.” Folliculinum is made from ovarian follicle, which is folliculin, the natural hormone secreted by the ovaries and also known as estrogen.
Many women prescribed this remedy had symptoms between ovulation and their menstrual period, and most of them had been on the pill at one stage or another. As with many cases, in homoeopathy we note the family history of the patient, and what becomes most interesting is that many young women were having these problems who had not been on the contraceptive pill but their mothers had been on the pill before they were conceived.
Hidden Obstacles To Cure
The other indicator towards inherited disease, through hormone abuse, involves a drug called Diethylstilbestrol (DES). This is man-made oestrogen. Beginning in 1940, it was given to pregnant women who had histories of miscarriages, premature births, diabetes or hypertension or showed signs of bleeding in the early stages of pregnancy. A previously rare form of cancer, vaginal clear-cell adenocarcinoma, has been found in increasing numbers of daughters of women how were given DES. There is also growing evidence to show an increase in breast cancer and cervical dysplasia in DES daughters. 1
References:
- Synoptic Materia Medica, Vermeulen, 1996
