Did Suzanne Somers’ Bioidentical Hormone Therapy Make Her Sick?
Suzanne Somers is a well-known advocate of so-called “bioidentical hormone replacement therapy,” claiming that it has helped her stay healthy and feel young.
But did her supplements help make her sick?
Somers’ latest woo-promoting book, Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer–And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place, opens with a harrowing story of an initial misdiagnosis of “whole body cancer” (presumably she means widely metastasized cancer) after a group of frightening symptoms sent her to the ED with what she believed to be an allergic reaction.
Somers was apparently told she had metastatic cancer after a CT revealed a group of masses in her chest. She was understandably angry when it turned out that she did not have cancer, but rather Valley Fever, which, in its more serious form, can present with the symptoms Somers had, including nodules that can look like tumors in the chest.
I would have more sympathy for Somers if it hadn’t been for the following exchange, noted in an excerpt from her book:
“Dr. Oncologist comes into my room.… He walks in, doesn’t sit down, just looks at me and says angrily, ‘Well, you should have told me you were on steroids.’
I am flabbergasted. I don’t know what to say to him… I am not on steroids. I would never take steroids. But because he is stuck in old thinking and so out of touch with new medicine, he has no clue and doesn’t understand cortisol replacement as part of the menopausal experience.” [Emphases mine.]
This calls into question a number of things about her story.
First, she shows herself to be a lousy patient, if, as it her story implies, she didn’t tell her doctor about her cortisol supplements. Second, she doesn’t know that cortisol is, in fact, a steroid[1], and like most steroids, is known to have immunosuppressive effects. As Orac points out in his excellent post on the topic, this may be one reason Somers experienced the more severe form of Valley Fever.
It may also explain one of the other outrages Somers claims to have suffered—the administration of blood-pressure medication. Cortisol can raise blood pressure, an effect possibly amplified by the stress she likely experienced during her ordeal.
Moreover, other medications and supplements Somers may have been taking—such as estrogen—can affect the metabolism of cortisol, potentially exacerbating side-effects.
Somers may believe that bioidentical hormones do not carry the same side-effects as endogenous hormones, but, given their identical chemical and molecular structure, it would be surprising if they did not. As stated in the Endocrine Society’s position statement:
“No medical or scientific evidence exists to support the idea that the adverse and/or beneficial effects found in the WHI resulted from the molecular structure of the synthesized hormones, nor is there any sound scientific evidence to show that a different or ‘customized’ dose of hormones would have changed the outcome. If dosage and purity were equal, then all estrogen-containing hormone therapies, ‘bioidentical’ or ‘traditional,’ would be expected to carry essentially the same risks and benefits.”
Moreover, if Somers was taking “individualized” compounded bioidentical hormones rather than FDA-approved BIHs, it is possible that even she was unaware of the doses of steroids they contained, given the lack of oversight and standardization inherent in the compounding process.
It is likely we will never know the whole story about what happened to Somers, as privacy regulations prohibit “Dr. Oncologist,” “Nurse Ratched,” and the other medical dramatis personae in Somers’ book from commenting or defending themselves, unless, of course, she gives them permission to do so.
To quote another skeptic, “not bloody likely.”
- 1. Possibly Somers believes that “steroids” refers only to the anabolic steroids that are commonly abused by athletes.
The fact is bioidentical hormones heal and you guys can not seem to get over it. If somers haven’t been in the shape she is in, do to bioidentical hormones, she never would have survived that night at the emergency. And if she did not have the imformation from cutting edge Doctors about health and bioidentical hormones. She would have been scared in to taking that full blown kimo and more then likely she’d be dead by now. What ever happen to the love for people and there life. Money does not come before people. Instead of finding fault on susan somers, do your research and find out for yourself about bioidentical hormones . Kemo and radiation poisons and kills people, END OF STORY.
Rather than assuming I have not researched bioidentical hormones, perhaps you could supply some evidence to back up even one of your assertions.
Not sure what your “money does not come before before people” statement is about. Do you believe the purveyors of bioidentical hormones and other quackery provide it out of the goodness of their pure hearts?
I’ll provide a little evidence about why BHRT is NOT helpful –
1. Estradiol through the skin and as a pill has been studied in secondary heart disease and stroke prvention trials (called PHASE and WEST) and wound causing early increases in cardiac and clotting events as well as causing a tripled risk of FATAL stroke and strokes that were disabling.
2. Transdermal estradiol in the Million Women Study also led to small increases in blood clotting and gallbladder disease,although the added risk was much less than that of oral estrogen therapies like Premarin.
3. A woman’s OWN estrogen is the biggest risk factor for developing breast cancer
There are a lot of questions at hand here:
How was Somer’s lifestyle during her earlier years? Amount of exercise? Unhealthy habits? etc.
Just saying that because Somers did hormone therapy it results in her to become sick is a quick assumptions.
Balancing ones hormonal levels can have a lot of benefits over ones overall health and will result in a healthy future if everything is done moderately and adjusted over time, which is what she is advocating. I read a book, Hormone Harmony by Dr. Alicia Stanton and it has taught me a lot over time.
Certainly Somers’ lifestyle would affect her overall health, although how much direct effect those things would have had on her immune system’s ability to fight off Valley Fever is debatable.
The point is that the steroids Somers herself claims to take are known to suppress the immune system, whether they are bioidentical or endogenous, depending on the dosage. If she was not suffering from a true cortisol deficiency, it is quite possible the excess cortisol suppressed her immune system enough that she was susceptible to the (rare) serious case of Valley Fever.
What is the difference between Bioidentical Hormones and Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Problem, if she only assesses your TSH level and what you can do about it.
She looks amazing and clearly she is doing very well! I have just started using bioidentical hormones after seeing my specialized physician.So far I feel great, have more energy, and even my friends and family have noticed a difference in my attitude!
[ED NOTE: Link redacted, as I have been getting lots of spam including the link this commenter included.]
I think that Suzanne Summers looks great for her age! I have started taking bioidentical hormones and have never felt better!
[ED NOTE: Link redacted, as I have been getting lots of spam including the link this commenter included.]
I disagree that supplements could have made Somer’s sick. To think that supplements used to balance one’s health to make up for certain deficiencies that come with age is not a solid theory. Bioidentical hormone therapy is a beneficial treatment for people suffering through menopausal symptoms and cannot find a way to deal with it. I feel young after undergoing bioidentical hormone therapy and would recommend other curious readers to do some research. [ED. NOTE: Link redacted--have been getting lots of spam including the link this commenter included.]
Hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms has undeniable benefits. It also has known risks. This is just as true of bioidentical hormones as it is of synthetic hormones. Moreover, since they are compounded, there is a greater risk of over/underdosing and worse with the regimen Somers describes.
Somers is doing people a serious disservice when she implies otherwise. The hormones Somers claims to take–estrogen and hydrocortisone–have well-documented side-effects, including immune suppression and hypertension, so it is entirely plausible that Somers’ illness was exacerbated by her hormone use.
Moreover, her recommendations may actually increase cancer risk among some people. The Gonzales protocol, for example, has been shown to reduce both survival intervals and quality of life among people with pancreatic cancer.
She is just too painful to read.