When I was 35 I had to have a full hysterectomy. I fought it with everything I had inside of me. I KNEW there was another way.. and I was still very new to Naturopathy at the time. After six doctors all told me that there WAS no other way, and a week in bed in a fetal position from pain - I relented. After surgery she told me I had to be on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for the rest of my life. I flatly refused. I told her I would take it for the first year, because I knew it would help me heal faster (I had two major surgeries in six months and had almost died the last time due to a nicked artery in surgery) but after that she had better have a solution for me because I would not continue.
When I went back for my one year follow up, she tried to write me a script for more! Again she tried to tell me why I needed it - fights heart disease (actually the proof is leaning the opposite direction), fights Osteoporosis (studies show no proof), fights breast cancer (actually increases this likelihood), and fights stroke (again, increases the chances). Instead I shared what I had learned. HRT increases the chance of cervical cancer, increases the chance of needing joint replacement surgery, increases the chance for blood clots, increases the chance for ovarian cancer, increases the chance for Dementia, and a whole host of other FATAL diseases. WHY would I want that just to stop from having hot flashes and night sweats?
So, I started researching. I got all the books I could find, researched online, talked to Naturopathic doctors and learned a LOT. One of the books I recommend to EVERY woman is Dr. Christiane Northrup's "The Wisdom of Menopause." It was a wonderful starting place for me and REALLY made me think about why I had so many problems with my menses. She was the one to show me that your body gives warning signs when not in balance. You will have to read her book to get the full picture but I will share a piece of it here.
I will go into detail about Chakras and Meridians, but in short we have seven Chakras or energy centers in our body. Each one corresponds to a part of the body and to ailments within those organs. So, the second chakra represents the uterus, ovaries, vagina, cervix, large intestines, lower vertebrae, pelvis, appendix, and bladder. The mental and/or emotional issues related to the second chakra are personal power, sex, money, relationships, fertility, individual creativity, co-creation with others, boundaries in relationships, dependency vs. independence, giving vs. taking, and assertiveness vs. passivity. WOW! This spoke to me very strongly. I had had issues in my marriage. I was a fearful, dependant woman. If I had faced my issues, resolved my relationship issues at a younger age - I would never have gotten to the point of having surgery.
We all need to resolve the issues in our life that cause us stress and mental anguish. Our personal and professional relationships need to be healthy. Our self-worth and world view must be positive and self accepted. So, any major issues we have - cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc... all began as little issues that we ignored, and that caused the "warning" sign to become more and more acute.
So, how did I deal with the hot flashes and night sweats? Well,,, I still have them, BUT they are minor. The first two years was awful. I wish someone had shared with me, what I am sharing with you... it would have saved me so much grief!!! The one thing I found that rung true with me was food. I read somewhere about the Glycemic Index and began playing with it... I found that when I ate things that had a high Glycemic Index in the evening, I would have terrible night sweats. For example... I thought I was making wise choices when I ate carrots as an evening snack, but I would have night sweats. When I changed to an apple, I didn't have the night sweats. The book that helped the most was actually a cookbook from Sandra Woodruff called "The Good Carb Cookbook." I choose to eat my complex carbs in the morning (ie. oatmeal) so that my body can burn it off... and my low glycemic index foods in the evening.
The other thing I added to my diet was the Omegas. I don't eat enough foods that give me the appropriate omega count so I take an Omega 3-6-9 gelcap each day.
Happy eating! Happy healing!
When I went back for my one year follow up, she tried to write me a script for more! Again she tried to tell me why I needed it - fights heart disease (actually the proof is leaning the opposite direction), fights Osteoporosis (studies show no proof), fights breast cancer (actually increases this likelihood), and fights stroke (again, increases the chances). Instead I shared what I had learned. HRT increases the chance of cervical cancer, increases the chance of needing joint replacement surgery, increases the chance for blood clots, increases the chance for ovarian cancer, increases the chance for Dementia, and a whole host of other FATAL diseases. WHY would I want that just to stop from having hot flashes and night sweats?
So, I started researching. I got all the books I could find, researched online, talked to Naturopathic doctors and learned a LOT. One of the books I recommend to EVERY woman is Dr. Christiane Northrup's "The Wisdom of Menopause." It was a wonderful starting place for me and REALLY made me think about why I had so many problems with my menses. She was the one to show me that your body gives warning signs when not in balance. You will have to read her book to get the full picture but I will share a piece of it here.
I will go into detail about Chakras and Meridians, but in short we have seven Chakras or energy centers in our body. Each one corresponds to a part of the body and to ailments within those organs. So, the second chakra represents the uterus, ovaries, vagina, cervix, large intestines, lower vertebrae, pelvis, appendix, and bladder. The mental and/or emotional issues related to the second chakra are personal power, sex, money, relationships, fertility, individual creativity, co-creation with others, boundaries in relationships, dependency vs. independence, giving vs. taking, and assertiveness vs. passivity. WOW! This spoke to me very strongly. I had had issues in my marriage. I was a fearful, dependant woman. If I had faced my issues, resolved my relationship issues at a younger age - I would never have gotten to the point of having surgery.
We all need to resolve the issues in our life that cause us stress and mental anguish. Our personal and professional relationships need to be healthy. Our self-worth and world view must be positive and self accepted. So, any major issues we have - cancer, heart disease, stroke, etc... all began as little issues that we ignored, and that caused the "warning" sign to become more and more acute.
So, how did I deal with the hot flashes and night sweats? Well,,, I still have them, BUT they are minor. The first two years was awful. I wish someone had shared with me, what I am sharing with you... it would have saved me so much grief!!! The one thing I found that rung true with me was food. I read somewhere about the Glycemic Index and began playing with it... I found that when I ate things that had a high Glycemic Index in the evening, I would have terrible night sweats. For example... I thought I was making wise choices when I ate carrots as an evening snack, but I would have night sweats. When I changed to an apple, I didn't have the night sweats. The book that helped the most was actually a cookbook from Sandra Woodruff called "The Good Carb Cookbook." I choose to eat my complex carbs in the morning (ie. oatmeal) so that my body can burn it off... and my low glycemic index foods in the evening.
The other thing I added to my diet was the Omegas. I don't eat enough foods that give me the appropriate omega count so I take an Omega 3-6-9 gelcap each day.
Happy eating! Happy healing!
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