Women’s stories

“Zero hot flashes!”

Aimara, 51, joined the Personal Program for Hormonal Imbalance three months ago after Dr. Dixie Mills suggested she try it for her nearly constant hot flashes. Aimara recently e-mailed Dr. Mills to share how she was doing on the Program and agreed to share her experience with our readers. Here is her e-mail:

“Just wanted to send you a thank you note for referring me to Women to Women’s Personal Program. When I last e-mailed you I was thinking about asking the Personal Program for a refund because I was still getting hot flashes almost two months into the Program. Well, as of a few weeks ago, they began diminishing, and this week I haven’t had a single hot flash. I was tracking my hot flashes before and was getting them every 20 to 30 minutes. I couldn’t wear makeup. I couldn’t sleep. It was difficult finding tops that I could be comfortable in and that wouldn’t make me perspire so much.

“The change came when one of the Program’s Wellness Coaches called me to see how I was doing. After explaining how frustrated I was, she set me up with a Nurse-Educator consultation the next week. The Nurse-Educator had some very good tips for me. She helped me change my Herbal Equilibrium protocol, and because I needed the extra support, added 80 mg of soy isoflavones to my diet. We also discussed eliminating hot salsa and other spicy foods from my diet temporarily because they can trigger hot flashes.

“I’ve also kept up the daily exercise that I began at the start of the Program, as well as the healthy eating. When I started the Program I wasn’t getting much exercise at all. So, I started off slowly and just kept increasing the duration. What’s made it fun is keeping the activities different. I’ve also got a few girlfriends exercising with me. We started off with taking nice long walks — no pressure to go fast. Then, we started saying, I think I can run this next bit, adding little sprints into the mix. We’ll mix it up with biking, or a walk on the beach — the goal is to keep it interesting and fun, and to get some activity each day. It keeps me positive and feels good.

“I’ve also added some of the dietary suggestions from the Program. It wasn’t too difficult as they are similar to what I already eat. I’ve made some small changes like eliminating sugar, switching to whole grains, and eating more vegetables and fruits. I also eat more fish than meat now. I don’t follow measurements — just eat healthier.

“As of today, I have lost 12 pounds, I feel great and best of all no more hot flashes! I don’t want to jinx myself by getting too excited, as it has only been a week of zero hot flashes, but I’m pretty excited about it. I have a trip scheduled to visit my cousin and we are planning an all-girl hiking day at Yosemite. I can’t wait for that.

“I’m not sure what exactly stopped the hot flashes, but I don’t want to stop what I’m doing. However, I do want to add my hot foods back into my diet at some point — I’m Mexican and I miss my salsas!

“Thank you again and hope you are doing well.

— Aimara”

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Original Publication Date: 11/10/2007
Last Modified: 02/16/2010