When I was 40 years old, I began to experience peri-menopause. What had been monthly PMS symptoms increased in duration and severity until I seemingly had severe PMS all the time. After some especially difficult personal experiences in early 1995, I experienced depression to the point of suicidal thoughts and sought help from my primary care doctor and the psychiatry profession.
After several missteps, I found a doctor who diagnosed me with major depression and started me on anti-depressants. I firmly believe this saved my life. When I examined my life up to this point, I realized that I had shown signs of depression ever since I was a little girl, but no one ever acknowledged such things in those days.
My symptoms of both depression and PMS began to lessen dramatically after several weeks of treatment. Life became worth living again. As the years passed, I began to read about menopause and listen to the women with whom I worked talk about their symptoms. It didn't sound at all pleasant. I also knew I could never take hormones derived from horse urine because I was morally opposed to the process and it didn't make sense to me to load up my body with a lot of horse chemicals.
I was beginning to think that my late forties and early fifties would be quite grim. I happened to catch Suzanne Somers on television once talking about bioidentical hormones and then began to explore the idea by reading several books on the subject. I came to realize that there might be an answer to what most people I knew described as the horror of menopause. I researched some more on the web and found Dr. Schwartz.
I eagerly signed up for her
program of treatment and have been her patient for over three years now. It is hard to describe how the treatment with bioidentical hormones has changed my life. Although the anti-depressants made a big difference in my moods and symptoms of PMS, the bioidentical hormones have made me into a new person. My outlook on life is the most positive it's ever been, I am able to keep problems in perspective, and I have more joy now that ever before.
In short, I am balanced in a way I had previously never been in my life. Some months ago, I also decided to take the multi-vitamin and nighttime sleep packets offered by Dr. Schwartz. These seem to have improved my energy levels dramatically.
At age 51 and at the behest of the principal of the school at which I teach, I began a one-year accelerated administrative program in early 2007 that will gain me my principal's license. I took 18 credits in 7 months while teaching full time and am currently completing my 6 credit, 350 hour internship (also while teaching full time). It hasn't been the easiest thing I've ever done, but I have had the desire, the drive, and the energy to complete this program.
I know that without being hormonally balanced, I could never have successfully undertaken such a major project to change the direction of my future professional life.
I still see the same psychiatrist for anti-depressant medication, but recently we began to have interesting conversations about bioidentical hormones. He has been attending conferences where discussions have centered around PMS and depression. He tells me that the newest thinking appears to be that the exaggerated PMS symptoms of peri-menopause may trigger depression, instead of the other way around.
This doctor now enthusiastically tells me I am on the "cutting edge" of this area of medicine!
So thanks, Dr. Schwartz, for being there and providing that cutting edge!
I will be forever grateful to you.