Women’s stories

“I became totally useless.”

Here’s Sallie’s story as told to us in an e-mail:

“I am currently on the Personal Program and I started feeling better after the first few days. I was amazed how much better I felt.

“My story is I had a full hysterectomy when I was 39 years old. I am currently 55. After the hysterectomy my doctor gave me progesterone without estrogen. After a year or so I became very fatigued, perhaps due to a move from one coast to the other.

“I found a new doctor and told her about my total lack of energy. She decided to add estrogen (Estrace) to the progesterone (25 mg) I was taking. I began to feel much better — I felt alive again.

“After the progesterone/estrogen scare about four years ago, my doctor suggested to stop taking the progesterone and lowered the Estrace dose from 1.0 mg to 0.5 mg. In hindsight that is when I realized my health began to slide downhill.

“I became totally useless. I was able to muster up the strength to go to work, but if I wasn’t at work I was in bed or on the sofa. My tolerance level was nonexistent — everything bothered me.

“I was depressed; I didn’t want to do anything that I used to enjoy. I gained weight and was sleeping my life away. I went to my family doctor and disappointingly all my blood work and tests were normal. Although I’m glad I was ‘healthy’, I knew there had to be something wrong. She prescribed antidepressants (Serzone, Prozac, and Wellbutrin). I went from one to another but they only made me more tired. This went on for two years.

“Then I started losing my hair by the handfuls. That’s when I knew I must do something. I weaned myself off the antidepressants and went to an endocrinologist. I told them about my hair loss, fatigue, and excess weight gain. After tests, again everything was normal.

“They said my symptoms might relate to a lack of estrogen. Well, that made sense to me! I told my gynecologist about this and she increased the Estrace back to 1.0 mg. I noticed after about a month or two that my hair stopped falling out, but I still wasn’t feeling my usual self (if I could remember back when there was a usual self!).

“I was told about Suzanne Somers and her book The Sexy Years. I went on her website and found the Personal Program. I was glad to see through your website that I wasn’t going crazy…that other women were also going through their own private ‘hell’ and I wasn’t alone. I thought I’d give the Personal Program a try...I had nothing to lose!

“I felt sooooo much better! I’ve got my energy back, and am getting motivated again. Thank you so much.”

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Last Modified Date: 05/24/2011