Mary’s Question: I am 58 years old and lost my thyroid to cancer eight years ago. I am finding it impossible to lose weight and have thinning hair near my hairline and no eyebrows. I started Bi-est cream, 50/50 ratio, 2.5 milligrams; progesterone, a 175 milligrams; and testosterone, 1 mg. About a year ago, it was lower doses and then went up to those as recently my doctor had me using it twice a day, the cream, and then the progesterone, one pill at night, because my levels have shown that my progesterone is 7, estradiol less than 5, – that means it is not even in the bloodstream – free testosterone is 1.2, total testosterone is 6 . I am so afraid I am going to gain weight more or more hair loss from some of the things I have read. Please give me your opinion. I also take Tirosint and Cytomel for my thyroid. Do I have to worry about any medication interactions? Please help. Mary.

Short Answer: Typically, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is not going to cause consistent weight gain. When starting BHRT, there might be slight water retention, but should not lead to consistent weight gain over time. If weight gain continues once on BHRT, pay attention to insulin status and stress level. For more information on our approach, you can download our Keto Carb Cycling Program.

PYHP 105 Full Transcript: 

Download PYHP 105 Transcript

Dr. Maki: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Progres Your Health Podcast. I am Dr. Maki.

Dr. Davidson: And I am Dr. Davidson.

Dr. Maki: So what are we going to do later today?

Dr. Davidson: I do not know. Hopefully, get to go, maybe, for a hike or a long walk.

Dr. Maki: Yeah. Weather is good. It is August in Western Washington. Beautiful. It does not get too hot here. You know, we still have some patience in the Southwest. When I am getting ready to talk to them I look at the weather app and I see those triple digits: hundred and five, hundred and nine, hundred and ten and I have to say, it makes me cringe a little bit.

Dr. Davidson: I remember living in the Southwest and, August, I could not wait for August to be over with, like, come on, let us get to September. Let us get to the middle of September. And now I am like, I just want August to last forever. Please go slow go slow. [laughs]

Dr. Maki: Yeah. It is amazing how much of a contrast in you and I in the summertime. So June, July, August– it seems like, in the Southwest, Labor Day is when everything starts to change. You can feel it. Like you wake up one of those mornings and it is like, “Oh, okay. Summer is just–

Dr. Davidson: It is still pretty warm, but at least you are on the tail end.

Dr. Maki: Yeah, but you can start to feel like it starts to, you know, you get rid of some of those hundred and ten degree days and it will be in the upper 90s, maybe a hundred, and then it starts to gradually trickle down. But I remember you and I used to