Around the age of 40 I started having moderate hot flashes and night sweats, which, obviously affected my sleep patterns. I ran into an old friend who shared her same experiences and told me about some over the counter, natural remedies, which contained black cohash and soy. I experimented with a few different ones to see which would have the best effect. The regular strength seemed to be the best. I used this for a number of years, and it worked in the beginning but as I got closer to 50 the hot flashes, skin crawling, and anxiety got considerably worse. I had been asking my gynecologist each year to test me to see where I was in the world of menapause but I was continuously told that as long as I was still having periods, I was not in menapause, only peri (early) menapause. As you can imagine, this was frustrating for me, knowing how much worse I was feeling and getting no real answers. About 2 years ago I felt so bad that I called my doctor in a panic. In my quest to just feel human everyday, I was willing to do just about anything. We all want to rely on our healthcare professionals, as I did. Immediately, I started taking the ever popular drugs that have been relied upon for many years, but eventually cause cancer. I was told that I could not stay on this for more than 5 years due to the risk. This did not sit well with me, but at the time I would have done anything to feel better. Ultimately, I did get rid of the hot flashes and night sweats, and slept better as well. The downside was that I gained weight uncontrollably, and bled every other week. I tried another version which was stronger, under my doctor’s care, and there was really no change. I was finally at the point of no return. I realized, as many of us do, that we are dealing with the lesser of two evils. Do I enjoy the taming of the hot flashes, night sweats,and anxiety, at the risk of getting heavier, feeling bloated all the time, and bleeding every other week, not to mention the cramps and other lovely PMS symptoms that go along with it. My answer was clear. I forgot to mention that when I asked my doctor about bioidentical hormones, he was so opposed and negative about it that I dropped it like a hot pancake. I trust this doctor and respect his opinion as I have been going to him since my kids were born. It was time to take me and my hormones into my own hands. I immediately stopped taking the cancer causing hormones and made an appointment with a new doctor who had been recommended by a friend at work. My point here is that even though we feel that we are in the hands of our doctors we must take charge of our own destiny. There are no other choices for FDA approved hormones other than the ones I was offered, as far as I know. This new doctor was in the early stages of learning about hormone replacement therapy and bioidentical hormones, which was just what I had been looking for. I have been under his care now for about a year and a half and I feel great. He is a bone density and weight loss specialist as well as an MD. After a complete physical, bone density test, blood tests, saliva tests, colonoscopy, and the sharing of much info about any and all symptoms I have and have had, we are very close to getting it right. In other words, this is not a quick fix process. It takes time to get the right combination of each hormone. This was explained right from the start. We have repeated blood tests, and saliva tests a couple of times now to see what the change in hormone levels are after taking the recommended doses early on. Changes were made each time to adjust the hormone levels. I am not an expert on this subject but I do know that you need to have the correct combination of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in order to function properly and feel healthy. Please continue to Part 2
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