Women’s stories

“My endocrine system is finally working...”

After taking Premarin for 18 years and then finding bioidentical hormones, Brenda, 53, wanted to wean herself off all hormones. She found Women to Women’s Personal Program and talked to her doctor, who was very supportive. By changing the way she was eating and taking our Essential Nutrients, she lowered her dose of bioidentical hormones and has noticed a tremendous difference in her energy, achy joints, and thyroid and bowel issues! From a hysterectomy at age 30 to lupus at 52, Brenda has dealt with a lot and has certainly come out on top!

“Twenty-three years ago, I had a complete hysterectomy due to terrible endometriosis. It spread from my uterus to the outer lining of my intestines and even into my rectum. I hadn’t had my babies yet, but I was so sick that I figured it was best to have a hysterectomy. Both my mother and sister had hysterectomies at age 30 as well. I figured maybe I just wasn’t meant to have children.

“After my surgery I was put on Premarin, and remained on that until about five years ago. I’d been doing more and more reading about the risk factors associated with synthetic HRT, and went to see my gynecologist about going off Premarin. My doctor is a big proponent of bioidentical hormones, and she worked with me to get me off Premarin and onto something more natural to my body. I’ve since tapered my dose of bioidentical hormones lower and lower.

“About a year ago I began to notice achy joints and worsening fatigue. I was having trouble concentrating at work, and I write a lot so this wasn’t good. I was also less motivated to work out — I ordinarily like to go to the gym! And even though my body was exhausted at night, I had trouble getting to sleep. If I did sleep — even for ten hours — I was still tired when I woke up. All of this kept me from coping with stress. Sometimes I was just so tired I wanted to cry.

“I finally went to my doctor and said, ‘This is beyond normal. Something is wrong.’  I found out I had an enlarged thyroid and was also diagnosed with low-level lupus. The doctor decided to take a wait-and-see position on my thyroid, and the lupus turned out to be very manageable to treat.

“I found Women to Women shortly after this. Once I did some reading, I wanted to try going off of hormones completely. I brought in some information about your Essential Nutrients to my doctor, and she was extremely supportive. After she read the information, she said, ‘This is exactly what you should be taking at your age.’ She just warned me to monitor my migraines, which I’ve had since I was five years old, in case they came back. I’m not off of hormones yet, but I’m on a very low dose because it does seem to keep my headaches at bay.

“About two weeks into taking your Essential Nutrients and following your Nutritional Guidelines, I noticed an immediate difference in myself. First, I have much more energy. I also have much clearer thinking now. My thyroid isn’t enlarged anymore, my joints aren’t achy, and the chronic bowel issues I’d been having for years disappeared!

“I’ve been reading more and more about insulin resistance as the cause of so many of our health problems. What’s really cool is that eating according to your Nutritional Guidelines, makes my cravings go away. So they are not even hard to follow! The minute I eat something I shouldn’t, I know I’ll go right back into the craving cycle, and I don’t want to feel that way. I think my endocrine system is finally working the way it should be!”

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Last Modified Date: 05/24/2011