Spring is here! Flowers are blooming! Summer is around the corner! What could be better? How about a paradigm shift for the ages? Let me ask you-would you ever take your beloved pet to your veterinarian and give up all control or ownership of diagnosing or treating this special member of
your family, without having any discussion? Would you drop your car off at the dealership or service department and say, "Do whatever!??" So why do we go to our health care practitioners and have no voice? When did we give our power away? Having a voice and taking charge of YOUR health makes you an advocate--NOT noncompliant! And WHO is a better health care advocate for you...than YOU? So your first step this spring is to begin reading about issues that can affect our health as we age: like adrenal fatigue (James Wilson's Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome), and hormone imbalance symptoms (Dr. Uzzi Reiss's Natural Hormone Balance for Women). And then learn your options for treating these issues. I can tell you the experience of many of our women who go to their practitioner and say, "You know, I'm thinking about this BHRT-bioidentical hormone replacement therapy that is customized for me....what do you think?". It is the rare, LUCKY woman whose doctor says, "I don't know much about this. But if you have researched this and feel comfortable going this route, then let's give it a try." Some practitioners are now saying, "Yes I've heard of this and the Happy Hormone Cottage and I have some patients who are going there and getting positive results, so I'm willing to work with you in this area!" Wow! I sure wish this was the majority of our clients' experience! We have one client, 42 year old Samantha, with a more typical experience last year. She went to her doctor to broach the subject of coming our way. She mentioned natural hormone balance and customized BHRT. He said, "I don't know a lot about this BUT....." and he proceeded to tell her his opinion of what we do. His "information" was inaccurate and wrong. But because she didn't have enough education of her own, she left feeling frustrated and scared. So she spent the next 12 months feeling miserable, while her imbalance issues worsened. Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore and was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, she began to read and get informed. She then visited one of the practitioners on our website whom we recommend and I met with Samantha last month to begin her on her journey to better health! The good news is that Samantha just called me to report in that she is already feeling better-more energy and less moody. She mentioned how stressful her life has been recently, but that because she is on our therapy to slowly refill her depleted hormone receptors (they deplete as we age. We actually begin to become symptomatic of a hormone imbalance at around age 35!) she has been able to handle the stress better than she would have a month ago. This is good news!! The bad news is she wasted a year or more of her life because she didn't take charge of her journey. So my suggestion to you is this-instead of going to your doctor and saying, "What do you think??" Say, "Here is what I want to do and here is why!" This makes you empowered and assertive. You can have a discussion and exchange information. Our website is full of information for doctors also! If the response isn't favorable, you are free to go elsewhere for hopefully a more favorable response!

    
    Let me urge you today to take charge of your journey to feeling your best naturally. Don't consider the "do nothing" approach or the drug therapy route as your first line of defense. Don't expect your doctor to know a lot about customized hormone replacement therapy. Do you think this is taught in medical school?? Think again! So why would your doctor be an expert in this area? The answer is he probably wouldn't be! And that's ok! What isn't ok is the attitude that just because something isn't taught in medical school makes it wrong. It doesn't! It just makes it different! One of our clients sent me this quote that I think is SO appropriate-"CONDEMNATION WITHOUT INVESTIGATION IS THE HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE!"   

  So the next time you go to your health care practitioner, be prepared with an action plan for YOUR body in this area of natural hormone balance. Be educated and be confident. Remember, the ball is in YOUR court! And guess what? WE have your back!  

Warmly,
Lyn