Women’s stories

“You know it’s bad when you don’t even want to be with yourself”

Diane had been experiencing hot flashes since age 29, as well as worsening symptoms of PMS — so bad, she says, she didn’t even want to be with herself. But due to a bad reaction in the past to synthetic birth control, she wouldn’t consider using anything but all-natural remedies. What she likes best about the Personal Program is how it’s helped her symptoms in a natural way.

“I’m around the corner from 38 — no spring chicken, and not quite your typical premenopause age, either. But I know I can be premenopausal. Some people say, ‘Oh, you’re too young for that.’ But I know what I’m going through — I know you can start having hormonal imbalance in your late 30’s, or 20’s even.

“Well, this one weekend, I was totally hormonal, and I was looking for answers to tell me that I’m not totally crazy. I was on-line, and I typed in ‘menopause,’ and I saw your website, and I thought ‘Hmm.’ It said, ‘Natural ways of dealing with menopause symptoms, and premenopause and PMS symptoms,’ and I looked, and I thought, ‘Oh, they’re in Maine.’ So I looked it all over — because I just really wanted to see if I was truly crazy.

“I took the profile, and tested out as ‘moderate to severe.’ I’ve got all the symptoms. I am totally premenopausal. You know, I got to the point where I was so incredibly hormonal that I seriously was creating things that just don’t exist. It was so bad, that I sat there. I didn’t even want to be with myself. And I thought, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ You know it’s bad when you don’t even want to be with yourself.

“I’d been noticing my symptoms getting a little bit worse every time. A week or two before my period, I would just get crazy. And I needed something to help with my hot flashes. That was my other big problem. I needed something, because I’ve been having hot flashes since I was 29.

“This is really funny, but my mom actually bought the program for me — but as a gift for my husband, for his birthday. We all three live together, and she bought it for him. I’m not kidding you. Oh, my gosh, it was amazing!

“I think it was July when I started. I went through a couple days at first, where it was almost like I was getting detoxed. I just felt like, tired — didn’t feel very good. I think my body was waiting for something, because all of a sudden, I noticed a difference. I thought, ‘Oh — is this how I’m supposed to feel!?’ I had a lot of energy. I just felt perky, but not like I was on a caffeine high or anything.

“Then when my period was coming, my symptoms were almost not there. And to me, that makes such a big difference! My husband asked me, ‘Honey, is this stuff working?’ I said to him, ‘Think about the last week. Have I bitten your head off?’ And he said, ‘No, you haven’t.’ (He didn’t think anything would work, either — he was very leery at first.)

“But now my hot flashes are next to none. That is amazing. I’m in California, and we’re used to perfect weather, but it can get cold here. And when I was getting ready in the morning and had a hot flash — that’s when I’d get them — I couldn’t wait to go out into the cold air! And I’d get in the car and turn on the air conditioner! Isn’t that pathetic?

“My emotional stuff has gone way down, too. I wouldn’t say it’s all gone, but 85–95% gone. It’s not as severe as it was. Even the swelling — when my ankles swell, it’s not as bad. They don’t do it all that often now. So that’s a good thing. And my cramps went down, though they’re not completely gone yet. Every couple months I would just have really bad cramps. Before starting the Program, they were pretty bad. I was restless, and I couldn’t sit still, they used to be pretty bad. It has slowed them down, definitely.

“I think it makes sense that you were given enough hormones to begin with, they just get blocked up sometimes by different things going on in your body. I can only use natural remedies because I’m allergic to any synthetic stuff. My system’s so sensitive, I can’t even use birth control. I had such a bad experience with it right before I got married. I even put it down as an allergy now because I reacted so severely to the synthetic stuff in the past.

“So what I like best is that the Personal Program has helped my symptoms in a natural way. I really am glad that you’ve researched women and their symptoms, and the different ways that our bodies can lack different nutrients. When we’re premenstrual or pregnant, or premenopausal, our bodies just go into this whole different mode. If you don’t have the nutrients you need, it just sucks the life out of everything. If you can balance that out, it just makes more sense to me.

“We eat well, too — the whole family. We try to eat as fresh and as organic as possible. We’re not perfect, but we do our best. It does make a difference. I notice such a difference if I don’t eat right. But my system’s sensitive. I have a really hard time taking supplements. I don’t believe in a pill for every little thing, and I don’t want to put a bunch of junk in my body that’s not necessary. Those supplements you buy in the store, they’re not the same. I’ve tried several other all-natural brands, but they made me sick to my stomach. I really like to take my Essential Nutrients with a big glass of soymilk. It works great — try that!

“The Essential Nutrients are made from good ingredients, and they’ve done the research to figure out what our bodies are lacking at that time, and what we need. You need extra nutrients! Oh, yeah — it’s worth every penny.”

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Original Publication Date: 10/17/2007
Last Modified: 02/16/2010