I began compounded bioidentical hormone therapy about 12 years ago when I was 49 years old. I was still having a monthly period but my emotions seemed to be up and down, my energy level was low, and my libido had dropped considerably. One day at Costco, I noticed a book by Suzanne Somers about the connection between weight loss, sugar and balancing your hormones. I had gained about 20 pounds the previous few years so I purchased the book for that reason alone. As I began reading the chapters about the symptoms of estrogen decline I could see myself in nearly every paragraph. I also began to educate myself on the difference between natural hormone therapy and synthetic hormones. I started talking to my friends who had used "the patch" or hormone pills and they were STILL suffering from the same symptoms I was experiencing. What they were using was not helping. It didn't take long to be convinced that natural, bioidentical therapy was the route I wanted to explore.
I used a site the book recommended to find a doctor in my area that specializes in HRT and I found Dr. Gregory Wolf. I made an appointment and after a series of hormone bloodwork labs, he could see my estrogen levels were far under what they should be. He was a strong believer in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and started me on a low dose of estrogen. After three months, I repeated blood labs and my estrogen levels had improved. He also had me keep a journal of how I felt emotionally, physically and sexually during this time. I began to notice a feeling of being more balanced within the first month and within three months I was feeling "back to normal". But my FAMILY gave me the best feedback. My three children could notice a difference in my patience levels and they began to call my estrogen cream "mom's happy hormones". My husband was definitely benefiting from my increased libido..and I felt like I had my personality and energy level back...it was a WIN-WIN for all of us!
I stayed on this estrogen only protocol for almost two years since I was still having a regular menstrual cycle and producing my own progesterone and testosterone.
Prior to beginning cHTR, I had already been diagnosed with a prolapsed uterus and cervix caused years earlier by childbirth and three big babies. My gynecologist had recommended a hysterectomy, but honestly I had been living with the prolapse because I was fearful of the radical drop in hormone production and being thrown into surgical menopause overnight. One of my best friends had gone through a hysterectomy that year and her entire personality had changed...she was in a dark place emotionally and facing the same prospect literally terrified me!
Although my estrogen replacement had improved my libido, the prolapse uterus and cervix had made sexual intercourse painful. I talked to Dr. Wolf and without hesitation he started me on a basic dosage of cHRT one month prior to my surgery....increased estrgen, along with progesterone and testosterone. He would retest my hormone labs after surgery.
I explained all this to my GYN surgeon and he was elated I was taking this hormone therapy. His own wife had been using them for about 5 years and he said it had changed her life. He assured me that I would be fine, but it might take some fine tuning to find the correct balance after all of my own hormones had left my system.
I had the hysterectomy in September of 2010 and experienced ONE intense hot flash on the third day. THAT WAS IT... virtually unheard of in the millions of women that go through a complete hysterectomy.
I was hypersensitive to every feeling wondering "is this therapy was really going to work?" After my 6 weeks of recovery I was a believer! Dr. Wolf ran the hormone labs again and tweaked my dosage a little and by month 3...I felt as emotionally and sexually balanced as I had in my thirties without the discomfort of the prolapsed cervix.
I have continued the therapy consistently ever since. I have yearly physicals & mammograms and my family doctor is always amazed with my health at now 63. I have NO vaginal dryness, I do NOT have the normal "weight gain" of other menopausal women, I have stable blood sugar & cholesterol levels, I have normal mammograms and I have an exceptional sex drive...which has added greatly to the "happiness" factor in my 37 year old marriage. This last December I had my first bone density test...a DEXA. The results showed that I had normal bone density..and less than a 1% chance of fracture in my hip or back. I was 62 at the time and this is remarkable for a woman my age! I believe this is a direct result of replacing my hormones with cHRT. Can you imagine if every woman had this therapy available? No more fractured wrists or even worse....hips from a simple slip in the garden?
Compounded Hormone Replacement Therapy gave me my life back.
It had helped so much that we even went through a time when our medical insurance changed for one year my husband was willing to private pay so I could still see Dr. Wolf and continue my cHRT...it was a "no brainer" according to my husband to have a wife and mother at 100%.
I have shared my experience taking cHRT with dozens of female friends and many have jumped on board and feel great! Even my best friend who had the hysterectomy began seeing my doctor that year and I could see the radical change in her personality... she was her cheery self once again. Her own marriage had a rebirth and her kids had their mom back. She has continued taking cHRT faithfully and private pays each month because her HMO sadly won't cover the cost. But for her it is totally worth it to have her life, marriage and family healthy.
I gladly will contribute my honest testimonial and will fight to keep cHRT available. This keeps women healthy! If every menopausal woman had access to cHRT it would save the health care system millions of dollars in costs for other physical ailments caused by lack of hormones.
My husband was so amazed by what he saw in me that when he began to notice his moods changing, energy level decreasing, erections that were not as firm or long-lasting as they had once been and definitely could tell his overall sex drive had decreased... he had his own bloodwork done. It revealed that his testosterone levels were very low. He began taking T-shots weekly about 7 years ago. The transformation was astounding. NO MORE GRUMPY DAD & HUSBAND! He just turned 61 and has the energy of men half his age, perfect weight, no muscle loss, happily NO erectile disfunction issues anymore and the sex drive he had in his twenties. In talking to his other male friends at work, he is the ONLY one still having sex at least 3 times a week and every time without Viagra. And in other women my age (not on cHRT), I'm usually the only one having sex so often and enjoying it!
LISTEN...HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY IS A GAME CHANGER FOR NOT ONLY OUR HEALTH BUT OUR MARRIAGES & FAMILIES. And we've seen first hand...what affects the marriage & family effects the entire country.
Health care should be about better HEALTH for American citizens....not about how much money the big pharmaceutical companies can make. We thrive as a country because we protect our freedoms. A free-market economy is worth the fight and it's what our founding fathers envisioned when they framed the constitution. We cannot allow the big pharmaceutical companies to take that away from us.
I appreciate and have benefited from many medications pharmaceutical companies have developed ~ I am thankful for these companies. But they don't have to control everything...that would be unhealthy for our country and it's citizens.
It will take all of us joining together to protect and defend "WE THE PEOPLE"...have a right to continue producing and consuming compounded bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.
Sincerely,
Carolyn DeFoe