My Menopause Nightmare and How Bioidentical Hormones Saved Me

I want to start by saying that that women across the country need to hear this.  I’ve never felt so passionate about anything in my entire life and because I am a success story I hope that I can influence many in my advocacy for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

It started six years ago in January 2001.  I was in my last six months of finishing my bachelor’s degree and suddenly some symptoms started reappearing that were all too familiar to me.  My fibroid tumors
returned.  I knew because of the clotting and sudden bursts of blood during my period.  I had this problem 2-3 years prior and thought it was taken care of with a hysteroscopy.  Unfortunately they came back with a vengeance and I had 4 large tumors this time.

My gynecologists at the time gave me two options.  He said he could remove them with no guarantees that they wouldn’t return or a hysterectomy leaving in my ovaries.  It was a difficult decision because I needed to decide if I ever wanted children.  I was 38, never really seeing myself as a mother, but I needed to decide if it was something I was passionate about.  Because I wasn’t in a relationship at the time and not knowing whether I would ever meet the right person, it left me with the decision to take care of my health first. 

I thought prior to the surgery my doctor gave me all the information I needed to prepare myself.  However there was one thing he missed and that was the risk of going into early menopause.  The surgery went well and I was getting on with my life with no worries.  I finished school and bought my first home.  Life was great!

A couple of years passed and I started to experience some menopausal symptoms during my nights.  I first noticed that after I went out and had a few drinks with friends, that I couldn’t sleep at night.  Then hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia also started to set in.  I only had symptoms in the evenings never during the day.  I was talking to my mother on the phone one day and she said I should go see my doctor; I was experiencing menopausal symptoms.

My gynecologist had me on every kind of synthetic drug they could give me from the patch, the ring, and a host of other products.  They just weren’t working and I was turning into a complete psychotic zombie due to lack of sleep.  I kept asking for higher doses, but my practitioner would only increase my doses in small increments.  I think I was on the phone every week to my doctor’s office yelling and screaming that it wasn’t working.  They also told me to cut out caffeine, alcohol, and spicy foods out of my diet.  Those were things that added to menopausal symptoms.  I felt like I was experiencing hell.

Finally after about six months we found something that did work, Estratest, the highest dose of testosterone you could get and Lexapro.  I was in heaven only for a while.  Then the side effects began, extremely oily skin, acne, hair growth on the face, dry hair, bowl problems and again a host of other problems. 

I moved to the other side of town to get a fresh start on things in my life.  By some accident I stumbled upon a pharmacy that was offering bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.  I had also heard about The Sexy Years written by Suzanne Somers, but had not read it yet.  So I inquired within and started the program.  I also just started seeing a new gynecologist after I moved and was trying to work with her in helping me with hormone replacement therapy.  She was horrible.  It was like she didn’t want to be bothered with helping me, but I managed to get her to start prescribing bioidenticals for me.  I did have some relief in the beginning, however I found that it wasn’t working any more and struggled with the pharmacist and the doctor to help me get to a dose that would bring some normalcy back into my life. 

After ranting and raving with the pharmacist, she finally said to me “have you thought about seeing a specialist?”  I said absolutely. “Who do you know?”  This is where my sanity came back.  I think this was a learning experience for both myself and the pharmacist.  Even though she could read and interpret the saliva tests results she is not an expert on what should be prescribed and she wasn’t recommending enough based on my test results.

I was such a mess by the time I saw Dr. Gojka Stula that his first response was that we needed to increase my doses immediately so I could have some relief.  Rather than have a mixed cocktail as I was using, he prescribed each hormone separately and at some of the highest levels you could get.  He also indicated that at some point we would bring my levels back down, but for now let’s get you stabilized.

At the time, I was also in a very stressful relationship which had me on sleeping pills for three solid months. Ambien was the only thing that would really knock me out at night.  Dr. Stula kept telling me I
had stress in my life and I kept denying it.  I finally realized what it was and ended the relationship.  Within that month I was sleeping like a baby without the pills.  I was starting to get my life back.

So as the first couple of months passed I started to notice a difference.  I also started reading The Sexy Years and I wish I would have read it sooner.  I was amazed on everything I read.  Suzanne Somers did her homework and I’m so thankful for her being so open about her problems.  I share my experience as much as I can with friends, act as a case study for my doctor, and recently told my story on The Morning Blend with the pharmacist who got me started on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.  You can view the video on www.themorningblend.com, past shows, February 5, 2007, MD Custom RX.

I'm one of the rare cases that exhibits severe menopausal symptoms because of my hysterectomy and not bearing any children.  And know that every woman will experience menopause at a differenct level.  It’s now been almost two years and my life is back on track.  Antidepressants are no longer a part of my daily routine either.  I feel great!  I exercise and have changed many of my eating habits to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  I’m also starting a new job as well as pursuing my advocacy for bioidentical hrt.  I have many exciting things happening in my life right now and it’s because of bioidentical hormones.

At this time in your life it’s important to take care of yourself.  The main thing is that you discuss all options with a physician and if they aren’t helping you continue to the next until you find someone in your area that will help you and understand.  Synthetic hormones are so harmful to your body and are not a “one pill fits all” option as the pharmaceutical companies seem to think.  Many women are on antidepressants that don’t need to be and are starting to have health problems as a result of using synthetic hormones.    It’s all about balancing your hormones.  It’s your right to choose a “natural” method to maintain a happy and healthy life. 

As a side note, I'd like to suggest to everyone to read The Sexy Years and Ageless by Suzanne Somers.  I applaud her in speaking opening and candidly about her experiences and success.  There are also other publications out there that will help you make an informed decision on using bioidentical hrt.

Angela Avers