Women’s stories
“Hormonally, I feel awesome!”
Stacy has always taken such good care of herself, and when symptoms of hormone imbalance began in her early 50’s, the first place she turned was to alternative health practitioners. She did well under their watchful care, but after losing their support to circumstances beyond her control, her heavy bleeding returned with a vengeance, leading to anemia. Back under the care of a conventional gynecologist, surgery and synthetic hormone injections brought the bleeding to a immediate halt. But she started packing on the pounds with monthly Depo shots and knew this wasn’t the answer. Then her inner voice woke her at 2:00 AM, urging her to get back to her roots with alternative solutions. That night she discovered Women to Women’s Personal Program on the internet, and with it the welcome, natural relief she was seeking.
“This has been just so traumatic! I had always been very regular. I’m a health and wellness consultant, and because of that I knew I never wanted to use HRT. I have always taken the natural route. About 3–4 years ago I had salivary hormone testing and found my progesterone had really bottomed out. A naturopathic doctor put me on a progesterone cream, and that helped, but unfortunately I lost that doctor when her fees went up to $300/hr. As you know, most of us pay out-of-pocket 100% for alternative treatments, and the pharmacists wouldn’t sell me the cream without the ’script.
“So I decided to work with a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who put me on Chinese herbs. This really helped regulate my periods, and I was doing well but then I lost that doctor, too, and my body lost all the support the Chinese herbs were providing.
“I’d been off the herbs for a few months when the bleeding began again, and this time it just didn’t let up. Having continuous periods is very traumatic! It went on this way for about three months, at which point I had some blood work done and was found to be anemic. I was referred to a regular gynecologist, who ordered a pelvic CAT scan to make sure there were no cysts or fibroids or anything else internally causing the heavy bleeding. Everything from that came out clear, so she just did a D&C on me and gave me a shot of Depo-Provera to stop the bleeding. She said she wanted to do a Depo injection once a month for six months, and I was feeling a bit desperate, having lost the support of natural alternatives right and left. Not really knowing what I was doing, I just let her.
“Here I was, 51 years old, 5'-1", and after having weighed 110 pounds my whole adult life I suddenly gained 24 pounds in two months! I’ve always had good nutrition, eating a Mediterranean diet for years. So I told my gynecologist I was NOT going to do that again. She said that would be fine, because by then my blood count was up. Well, it took me almost a year after getting off the Depo to return back to my normal weight. And at my age, some of that fat just stays right there in the hip and thigh areas. It is going to be really tough for me to get rid of it, no matter how rigorously I exercise.
“Once I got off that Depo my cycles were okay for a couple more months, but then, beginning in October 2005 through June 2006 the old problems with irregular periods slowly but surely returned, building up to profuse bleeding by August of this year. In August it was just ongoing — day after day after day! So I called my gynecologist requesting to be seen back for an appointment, and her nurse was so rude! She said, ‘I can’t get you in for two months; you better just go to the ER.’
“Well, I didn’t want another fake hormone injection. I’m a very spiritual person, and that night my inner voice woke me up at 2:00 AM, telling me to go to the internet. I put in ‘research hormone replacement,’ and up came Women to Women’s Personal Program. Now, I’m not an easy sell — I’ve been reading up on alternative medicine for years, and working with naturopathic methods myself as a health and wellness consultant. I could see that a group of women health practitioners had put this whole thing together, and that’s what had me decide to call you the very next morning.
“I called in and talked to an absolutely wonderful woman. We talked and talked, and finally she just said to me, ‘You know, we’ve had such a tremendous success rate. All I can do is recommend this for you.’ I had been feeling so desperate, and I ordered the Personal Program right then and there. Unfortunately, I was leaving town for a wedding for four days — I had to go, and it was just awful! The moment I got there I had to buy pads, and the whole time I was away I kept telling my husband, ‘Look out behind me!’
“When I got home I was so relieved to find the product there. I started right in using it for very consistently for about two weeks. And — oh, my stars! This is just unbelievable — the bleeding stopped! Now I have had some ups and downs since then, and I do think my body is adjusting. I have had a little break-through bleeding and one full period in the past two months since starting my program, but I’ve just turned 52. I feel really encouraged that my bleeding is actually subsiding, just kind of ebbing away naturally. So I plan to keep my appointment with my gynecologist — now I’m actually looking forward to it.
“I have just been raving about this product — I feel that anything I can do to help another woman is worthwhile. I hope that if there is someone out there who is in the position I was in, my story can help them along. Hormonally, I feel awesome!”
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Our Personal Program is a great place to start
The Personal Program promotes healthy hormonal balance with nutritional supplements, gentle endocrine support, dietary guidance, and optional phone consultations with our Nurse–Educators. It is a convenient, at-home version of what we suggest to our patients at the clinic.
- Articles on women’s health — the collective wisdom of our practitioners on the topics that concern you most.
- A personalized, at-home program for hormonal balance based on our natural approach. We’ve helped thousands of women feel like themselves again. To learn more, click here or call us at 1-800-798-7902.
- Patient care at our medical clinic for those who can make the trip to Yarmouth, Maine to see us.
Original Publication Date:11/10/2006
Last Modified: 02/18/2008