A. Talk to him honestly. Tell him exactly what you just told me, that you feel the ex is taking away from your relationship and it hurts you. If you are truly his future then as hard as it may be, he will chose you and let go of the past. Sometimes, we all have trouble closing doors that should be firmly shut behind us.
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A. I am not a fan of alcohol and certainly not during pregnancy. This is again an issue of individual preference and balance. You can always find a study or advice to suit what you want to hear. The key to success is to figure out how your body functions, to get educated and informed and make the right decisions for you and in this case for the baby you are carrying
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A. If indeed you have been diagnosed with real vitamin B12 deficiency with what is known as the Schilling test, then you definitely need to take additional vitamin B12. Shots are a good way to get the vitamin into your system. Sublingual (under the tongue) may also help. However, if you have not been truly diagnosed with true vitamin B12 malabsorption, look into your hormone levels and diet to make sure there are no other issues that you need to address.
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A. Everyone is different. Having said that a good regimen for women in your age group is to exercise 4-5 days a week. Try doing cardiovascular exercise (i.e.-treadmill, elliptical machine, aerobics classes) for at least 30 minutes a day, a minimum of 3 days a week. The other days do light to moderate weight training. Also doing yoga and/or Pilates is a great addition to your workout and can be done 4-5 days a week as well. Adjust the above guidelines, don't overdo it, don't get overwhelmed, let exercise fit into your life and enjoy!
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A. Eliminate one cup of coffee a day, do it slowly and gently over time. Eliminate artificial and/or processed foods from your diet. Drink water and get serious, uninterrupted rest as often as you can. I bet the outcome will be great and will energize you enough to let go of all the caffeine in your life. It will also help you save your life!
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A. Your diet is crucial and I cannot stress enough the importance of realizing that we are what we eat. Download the hormone friendly diet off the www.drerika.com website and start your journey to better health with it. Read The Hormone Solution and see how you fit in it hormonally and symptomatically. Take the Hormone Quiz on the www.drerika.com site and see what it tells you about where you are hormonally and what you may consider doing to improve things. I find that at your age, many arthritic syndromes are correctable with diet, supplements, exercise and bioidentical hormones. You are way too young to be sick and not enjoy your life.
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A. Whenever you see a health practitioner who doesn't seem to listen or care, it is time to move on. An uncaring doctor is more dangerous than no doctor at all. In your case I would suggest you see an atlas orthogonal specialist. An Atlas Orthogonal doctor is a chiropractor that does not manipulate, but rather focuses on balancing your head on your neck better than it is now. Your car accident has likely thrown your neck out and that is why you are not doing well.
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A. Absolutely correct. You do continue the Estrogel all month long and add the Procream for two weeks. Then you take a couple of days off. Also, consider taking the age specific Essential Supplements and the Restful Night Formula to help protect your bones and improve your sleep quality as well as increase your energy, boost your immune system and decrease inflammation.
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A. I am not sure the hair loss is from too much progesterone or estrogen. Sounds like you may be having a problem with your thyroid. Have your thyroid levels tested as soon as possible. Be aware that your doctor may read the test as being normal when in fact it may be low. Find a doctor who uses the results of the blood tests to treat you and works with the information you give him as the primary source of insight into what you need done.
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A. I am not a fan of too many mammograms. My baseline begins at 40, then one every other year at the most. If you have a family history or genetic predisposition you may choose to have the mammograms more often. Keep in mind that when conventional testing is overdone due to a defensive healthcare environment where the patient's safety is last, you are at more risk doing the test than skipping it . Make sure you perform monthly exams on your own breasts, take good care of your body and mind, and see a kind, supportive doctor who is there to serve you not the system.
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A. You need to ask yourself why do you care so much? Is it taking away from your financial comfort? You should discuss your concerns with him, one you know why this situation is upsetting to you. Do it without offending him or his relationship with his daughter. The most important part of the concern is that he may be inadvertently harming his daughter by keeping her from becoming an adult and he may not even see that.
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A. Her eating habits may be a great place to start. Speak with your daughter and ask her what she eats when out of the house. Then explain how what she eats may be affecting her enough to cause many of the symptoms she is so unhappy to be experiencing. Talk to her about exercise and sleep. Go over her lifestyle and make sure you provide a good example and support for her to improve her habits. Focus on positive results and make the positive connections for her.
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A. Let your 9 year old be a normal 9 year old. Help her with her diet, sleep and exercise and provide her with a loving, supportive and kind environment. If she feels miserable for a day or two when she has her period you certainly can give her over the counter Tylenol or Motrin. In time her periods will get better and if you haven't started her on the birth control pill route you will have protected her from potential harm in the long run.
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A. Why would you compromise? It's your home and as long as she is under your roof you make the rules. Your daughter is old enough to live on her own, but she is also old enough to be treated like an adult by you. You must talk this through and the only viable outcome has to be a compromise where both of you feel validated and respected. Maybe the time is right for her to move out.
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A. By the time our kids are 23 we have already done all the protecting we will ever do, we have set the example for who our children become. A big problem is that our culture condones out of control drinking and equates having fun with a drink in one hand and a cigarette or joint in the other. Our kids model themselves after what they see at home and in the media and then go to college and party to extremes. If we all stood strong on the issue that getting drunk exposes everyone to terrible risks because of impaired judgment and showed kinds that we can have fun without getting drunk and out of control, our 23 year old children would be prepared to protect themselves and not take unnecessary risks.
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A. You are too young to engage in a life of deception, doubt and compromise. Since your husband has told you this affair of the heart would have also been of the flesh had it not been for the woman involved, it is only a matter of time till he finds the woman who will go all the way with him. If you care about yourself, cut your losses and move on. I am sure there are plenty of men out there who will be loyal and kind to you.
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A. Try to relax. You are very young and know that 2 months of trying doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you. It's not like you are running out of fertility time. Your body is young and your first priority should be to get to know how it works. Enjoy making love with your husband, get to know his body and develop a close and loving bond between the two of you. Don't waste the time obsessing about getting pregnant. Eat well, exercise, fill your life with laughter and kindness and see how soon you'll get pregnant when least expect it.
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A. A great sex life is not enough to make for a good relationship. If you and your boyfriend are to have a future together, he and you have to come together on the issue of his tardiness. He can change if he loves you and you can too if you love him. A good compromise would be for him to set his watch 30 minutes ahead and start getting to all his appointments on time, while you stop becoming irritated by his tardiness and reinforce the times he is there on time. The good sex between you should make it easier to compromise. By the way, tardiness is not a genetic but rather a behavioral trait. He learned to be late at home, he can learn to be on time with you.
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A. It sounds as if you are eating well. The only question is what are you putting in/on your salad? Steer clear of cheeses, croutons, creamy salad dressings, tuna and chicken salad with mayo in them. Stick with bright colored veggies, nuts and seeds, and olive oil and lemon or cider vinegar for dressings. Also in your protein shake use grapefruit or POM juice instead of milk. If you want you can use soy milk diluted with water. If making these alterations does not help within the month see you doctor to have some blood tests done, a hormone imbalance could be to blame possibly your thyroid.
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A. You are correct about not wanting to introduce synthetic hormones into your daughters body; however, you should feel the same way about your body and everyone elses, at any age. Irregular periods is normal in teens and unless there are other problems with the development of the young woman there is absolutely NO science that demonstrated irregular periods need to be "fixed". Make sure your daughter maintains a healthy diet, exercises and communicates with you freely and openly about any stresses she may have. Dont worry about anything else and don't set her up to become a fearful victim of a system that is not there to provide her good advice or support.
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A. You are correct about not wanting to introduce synthetic hormones into your daughters body; however, you should feel the same way about your body and everyone elses, at any age. Irregular periods is normal in teens and unless there are other problems with the development of the young woman there is absolutely NO science that demonstrated irregular periods need to be "fixed". Make sure your daughter maintains a healthy diet, exercises and communicates with you freely and openly about any stresses she may have. Dont worry about anything else and don't set her up to become a fearful victim of a system that is not there to provide her good advice or support.
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A. Hormones regulate every key function is your body so there is a good likelihood that if your hormones are not in balance, depression could be a symptom of the hormone problem. Usually when hormones are starting to get out of balance there are other symptoms you may not even be aware of. Look into your dietary habits, food cravings, sleep pattern. Consult with you physician have your blood work done to determine your hormonal balance. Then get real help in the way of bioidentical hormones and support of your lifestyle, diet and supplements.
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A. Cut yourself some slack. You just gave birth! Relax a while and get some sleep if you can. Let your hormones find their balance again. That may take more than 6 months . If you are on a path to get back to your pre-pregnancy body in a hurry get some solid cardiovascular exercise and eat healthy hormone friendly foods ( DrErika' e-book ). If the weight does not come off fast enough, it is often lack of sleep that is the biggest culprit. Make sure you are getting at least six hours of sleep a day, at whatever times possible. Sleep when the baby sleeps or get some loving help.
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A. You are a healthy young woman. 37 years old is not "too old" to start trying to have a baby. If your gynecologist is old school I am not surprised he/she is giving you this type of information. While the biologic clock is still somewhat of a reality, we now have lots of technology at our fingertips that may come in handy should you need it. My personal advice is not to start with fear or with technology. Just start trying, enjoy and don't over think or stress about it. Then take it from there.
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A. Everyone needs progesterone. Just because your uterus was removed doesn't mean the rest of your body doesn't have progesterone receptors. Progesterone receptors on every cell on every organ of our bodies need to receive the progesterone to keep us in balance. Progesterone is a key hormone and its presence in your body makes a big positive difference. The physicians who do not agree with this statement are trained to look at women as organs rather than whole people. Since progesterone was used to protect the uterus from negative effects of estrogen, when you no longer have a uterus, these doctors think you no longer need progesterone. That is plain incorrect. I agree with you that not feeling well is not okay. To make sure you feel well most of the time, you need to learn as much as possible about how your body works and how to support it to work optimally. To achieve that goal spend time getting educated thus you will become your best advocate. Premarin is a dangerous drug and you don't want to take it. It is a non-identical hormone impostor that causes cancer, heart problems and strokes. Stop taking it as soon as possible. Use the bioidenticl estrogen instead. Enter the topics you want to learn about on the www.drerika.com site and read the Blog entries and the many articles. Please read The Hormone Solution and see as you become more informed and more aware of your body's function how you get smart, strong and healthy. Then find the doctor that fits you and your goals.
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A. Your husband needs to address his diet (DrErika's Hormone Friendly Diet), start moving and become kind to his body and soul. Supplements will help and so will looking at his hormone picture and making sure his thyroid, adrenals and testosterone levels are balanced. I have taken care of many a man with diagnosis of mental disorders who did very well by following the program that focuses on making him well, not keeping him handicapped by his diagnosis. In time, the mental health diagnosis disappears and I find patients being able to live their lives in hope and health.
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A. First, forget the label of PCOS. I have cared for many women who were told they will have a hard time conceiving and once they stop believing that to be true, they got pregnant. Having said that, consider adding progesterone as in the Procream (www.drerika.com ) for a couple of months and the age specific Essential Supplements for your age. Another thought is to have your thyroid checked because I often see women with undiagnosed low thyroid function having difficulty conceiving.
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A. Bioidentical hormones are known to help with fibroid shrinkage. The true indications for hysterectomy are: cancer (proven by biopsy) and anemia caused by serious bleeding and cramps. You don't seem to qualify under any of those criteria. Go back to your doctor or change doctors. Do not give up your uterus without having done everything in your power to keep it.
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