Women’s stories

“The night sweats are completely gone!”

At 49, Susan had tried a lot of so-called natural remedies for her night sweats and other symptoms, but nothing worked.  She finally gave up and went on HRT, but it scared her.  Then she found the Personal Program. After just four months the night sweats are gone, her energy is back, and she’s lost 15 pounds!

“I tried a bunch of products to get rid of my night sweats and hot flashes, but all they did was dampen the problem a bit,” says Susan, 49. For about a year she had been experiencing night sweats that left her sleepless and wringing wet. During the day, she was feeling exhausted and confused and not up for her high-stress job as an alcohol and drug counselor.

And Susan was gaining weight even while she was dieting, which left her feeling frustrated and defeated. Her digestive system seemed rocky and she thought she might have IBS. Because of her training, Susan knew she was operating on empty and needed help. Her doctor put her on Prempro, which stopped the symptoms but made her feel extremely nervous.

“I just didn’t know what to do. There is so much information out there and it’s all so confusing, but one night I was just typing keywords into the computer and your website came up. I started reading all the articles — going back to them over the course of a month — and it all made so much sense to me. The information was easy to understand, but intelligent and credible. So I finally made the call.

“I’m pretty skeptical — I thought it might be a scam, and I was feeling pretty good on the HRT. But I knew that couldn’t last forever, so I decided to give the Program a try.” Susan liked the fact that she could go over all her concerns with a nurse and that there was always someone to talk to if questions came up.

Susan went ahead and started. She read our Nutritional Guidelines carefully. “It really made sense to me, but I knew my own pitfalls so I decided to blend some of the dietary ideas with the Zone and Omega Zone books I already had. Now, I have my own version of the dietary guidelines that works for my lifestyle; that way, I know I can stick with it.”

Susan talked to one of our Nurse Educators who helped her make some healthy shortcuts, like buying pre-cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store to have ready after a long day. After a couple of weeks, Susan began to see a big improvement. “I was weaning off the Prempro slowly (I’m down to once a week now) and gradually lost 15 pounds. It’s been four months and the night sweats are completely gone! Now I’m up in the mornings ready to face the day, and I’m not having so many digestive issues.”

Susan has decided to sit with her routine, using her Prempro once a week while following the Program, but hopes that she’ll be able to go off HRT completely in the future. “I know discipline is the key to making all the pieces fit together, but I don’t do well if I deny myself completely, so I’m willing to go slowly.

“The funny thing is, the better I feel the less I crave certain foods that didn’t agree with me. Also, losing this weight has been big for me. I was stuck — nothing would budge my weight, and HRT was the only thing that worked for my hot flashes and night sweats — until I joined the Program. Now I’m finally moving in the right direction.”

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Last Modified: 02/16/2010