Women’s stories

“I am free from all those horrible symptoms!”

Valerie e-mailed us recently to tell us how well she’s doing on the Personal Program. She said she’d gone from “blazing” and “blistering” to the best she’s felt in her life, and that’s great news. We enjoyed Valerie’s e-mail, and she agreed to let us post it on our website. Here’s what she wrote:

“I just can’t tell you how happy I am that Women to Women is out there, and that I happened to find you. You really need to have large billboards on every corner!

“I could fill up all available cyber space telling you how miserable I was because I had every symptom — food cravings, irritability, and hot flashes, which were the worst. I was sure I was having more hot flashes than any woman had ever experienced. I charted them one day and logged 20 in a 24-hour-period! Only to find out that 20 is not at all unheard of during menopause! (I hate the word menopause). I love dressing up and going out, but during those dark days, I couldn’t wear 90% of my clothes because I couldn’t risk having a hot flash in any manmade fabric!

“My doctor suggested exercise and diet changes, but I was so exhausted and miserable, I just couldn’t make the changes she suggested, even though I’d once been a fairly healthy eater and a regular at the gym.

“I was so irritable that friends I’d loved for 15 years were suddenly annoying me so much that I couldn’t stand to be around them for any length of time. Honestly, I could get annoyed over the littlest thing. (Did they really have to blink that much?!) I went from being a person with a happy, healthy lifestyle to a blazing, blistering, broiling, raving maniac! (No exaggeration).

“Thank God I found Women to Women. Within seven to ten days, I started to notice a difference in my food cravings and my energy level. By the second week, I knew I was getting better. At the end of the third week, I was able to change my eating habits and start to exercise again. The hot flashes had gone from 20 a day to about six or seven. Now, at the end of three months, I am having only an occasional hot flash and not one other symptom.

“I know it sounds unbelievable, but I now feel better than I have in my entire life. I’m free from all those horrible symptoms, and as an added bonus: I don’t have periods anymore! I could actually learn to like the word menopause... Okay, that’s an exaggeration.

“Women to Women, I cannot thank you enough. Thank you for caring, for working so hard to help your sisters, and for the constant support.”

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Last Modified Date: 05/24/2011