Women’s stories

“My sister made me join!”

Nora had a partial hysterectomy at 38. Despite keeping her ovaries, and hormone replacement therapy in recent years, she has really never felt as good as she did before her surgery.

For awhile Nora has been telling herself she needed to stop HRT, but she’s just never gotten around to it. Then her sister joined the Personal Program and had such a great experience that she’s urged all the women in her family and group of friends to try it themselves. That was just the little push that Nora needed.

When we spoke for the first time, Nora was only about two weeks into her Program. Because of the HRT, most of her symptoms were mild except for bloating, pelvic pain, vaginal dryness and loss of libido. She already noticed improvement in her bloating and discomfort. “Overall I’m feeling better,” she said, “I’m me again, I feel more even.”

We worked out a weaning schedule to get Nora off HRT. Nora mentioned her long-term back problems that had led to fusion surgery a year ago. Ever since the surgery she has suffered chronic pain. We discussed how chronic pain can be a trigger for hot flashes and other symptoms, and how to manage that while stopping HRT.

At about five weeks into her Program we spoke to Nora again. “I am pleasantly surprised!” she told us. “The vaginal dryness is better, and my libido is back! The bloating and gas have really improved too, they hardly bother me anymore.” She was right on schedule with her weaning, skipping two pills a week, and had some warm flashes from the withdrawal, but she felt they were very manageable. She was excited and looking forward to getting completely symptom-free.

We know Nora’s sister is pleased too. We’ve made a note to ask Nora, once she’s completely off HRT, whether her sister has managed to resist saying, “I told you so!”

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Last Modified: 02/16/2010