Friday, August 20, 2010

The Seven Dwarfs of Menopause

The Seven Dwarfs of Menopause arrived at my door without warning: Itchy, Bitchy, Sweaty, Sleepy, Bloated, Forgetful and All-Dried-Up.

One by one they crept into my own private cottage in the woods and started to take over my life. The first to arrive was Itchy. I developed this itch on my right calf that was so irritating, I wanted to scratch the skin right off my body.

Then Bitchy came to my door. No longer was my PMS contained to one or two days a month-it felt like constant PMS. Then I would swing from Bitchy to Weepy for God's sake, what was wrong with me? Ding-dong......It's the middle of the night and Sweaty has crawled into bed with me.

Oh, yes, Sweaty brought embarrassing hot flashes and introduced me to night sweats where it seemed as if a faucet had been attached between my breasts.

Of course! Sweaty brought about Sleepy because I was tired all the time. I would wake up so many times in the night and not be able to get back to sleep.

Bloated crept in slowly, my once-svelte figure got thick through the middle section, even though I was following my weight-loss program that had worked so well for so many years!

I can't quite remember when Forgetful arrived, but one day my brain stopped working. I considered myself a pretty focused woman until Forgetful came and I could not keep a coherent thought in my brain. Am I getting Alzheimer's? I wondered.

Last, All-Dried-Up slowly encroached upon my happy marriage. This was probably the most unpleasant of the dwarf family. Sex was no longer on the top of my list...or on my list at all. My husband would give me that knowing look, and I would think, "Frankly, I'd rather have a smoothie."




Call my office in Wilmington (815) 476-5210 or Lombard (630) 627-3700 to set up an appointment or email me at jones.gretchen@gmail.com

Estrogen and Progesterone Restore Life

What makes a women feel good? Loaded question! Today, I am talking about hormones. Specifically, estrogen and progesterone.

When a women is younger and having menstrual cycles, she is producing hormones that make her strong-to have babies. They make her desirable to attract a mate. Last, but not least, they make her feel good.

During the course of a menstrual cycle, the brain tells the ovaries to ripen eggs. As the eggs ripen, they produce estradiol. On or about day 12 of ones cycle, an egg is released, a women makes testosterone, and starts to produce progesterone. These events prepare the uterus for pregnancy but much much more.

A women is born with a finite number of eggs, and at some point she runs out. The ovaries are the only place that makes progesterone and so it goes away. The body tries to compensate with estrogen but it makes estrone, not a lot. Consequently a women then goes thru the change of life! Hot flashes, cannot sleep, brain fog, etc, etc, etc.

One hundred years ago, women only lived to be 50, on the average. They did not talk about sex and did not have to worry about menopause. Today, you might live to be 80 or 90! Why should you feel bad and not enjoy sex.?

The answer is the Wiley protocol of hormone replacement for women.

This protocol replaces hormones, bio-identically and in a manner in which the body produced them in a young menstruating female.

If something was good for you when you were 25, why should it be bad for your when your 55? The answer is its not!

Try the Wiley protocol-feel better, sleep better, think better and once again enjoy your sexuality. It keeps your bones stong, keeps your HDLs high and if you have the breast cancer gene may protect you from bad estrogen ( 16-oh-estrone).

My patients love it and so will you.



Call my office in Wilmington (815) 476-5210 or Lombard (630) 627-3700 to set up an appointment or email me at jones.gretchen@gmail.com