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My uterus has never been my best friend. 

I started my menstrual cycle when I was 11—an age that was considered early then, back in the 70s (I will be 45 this year).  My periods were always heavy and I had to double-pad my underwear and use a super tampon for at least 7 days each month.  My mother said it was like that for her, as well. 

I was 28 when I got pregnant with my son, Jake.  I knew I had a couple of uterine fibroids but thought nothing of them.  Boy was I wrong!  When I was 16 weeks pregnant, I started having contractions.  Injecting me with magnesium stopped the contractions but I was put on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy, allowed to get up for only 5-10 minutes a day to shower.  The problem was my fibroids.  They were thriving off of my hormones and growing along with the baby, fighting for space in my uterus.

Five months later, when I was into the 37^th week of pregnancy, the doctor allowed me off of bed rest.  Within six hours of getting out of bed, my water broke and my son was delivered just before midnight that same day.

Heavy periods continued to plague me.  For 13 years, birth control pills kept the fibroids down and made my periods manageable.  But in my late 30s, the fibroids began growing and multiplying like crazy.  Plus, I just didn’t feel right. 

I was plagued with insomnia, grumpiness, depression and uncontrollable weight gain. My gynecologist, Dr. Cynthia Morris told me I was entering peri-menopause.  HOW? I was only in my late 30’s.  After talking to my mother and sister I found out that they also started early. Crap. The latest ultrasound in 06’ showed that my fibroids were taking over.  My uterus was now the size of a six month pregnant uterus.  She recommended that I have a hysterectomy and at this time I was ready to be done with it!

In March 2007, I had a partial hysterectomy.  I told my doctor that if my ovaries and cervix looked healthy, to leave them in.  The surgery went beautifully and I came out just minus the monstrous uterus which I proudly display a photo of on my desk. (I’m not kidding.)  I had 19 uterine fibroids.

Six months later, I started spotting. The doctor she said a very small percentage of females who keep their cervixes can have some cyclical bleeding.  She said it’s because the uterus is cut from the cervix but you can have some uterine cells hanging out along the cervical wall.  Since my ovaries were still producing eggs, I was technically still having a cycle.  She suggested I go on the Pill again to help with the spotting, as well as my moodiness. 

The Pill helped with the spotting but I wasn’t sleeping, my mid-section was expanding and I was acting like a crazy-woman to all my loved ones.  I something was off-kilter, but I was so listless I didn’t want to deal with it. 

One afternoon, I was watching Oprah.  Guests on her show that day included Suzanne Somers and Dr. Christine Northrup.  They were talking about women, hormonal levels and something they kept referring to as, “Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy."

As I watched, tears began to flow.  They were talking about ME!!  Other women were feeling the same way.  I wasn’t alone!  I remember thinking, I can actually do something to make me feel human again!

The BHRT are made from soy, not horse urine. My doctor had mentioned them to me at one time but at the time, it didn’t understand it.  Now I did. 

I called my doctor and she told me to make an appointment with Pharmacare, the compounding pharmacy in Tallmadge, Ohio.  I was instructed to pick up a saliva test kit that they said would tell them my hormone levels.  I was to send in four saliva samples that were taken from early morning to bedtime. It takes about 15-20 minutes to fill up a tube.  Bubbles don’t count.

It was so easy.  Drool, mark the time and date on each tube, put in pre-paid bag and send off to the lab.  Done!  I would have my results in two weeks.

I met for over an hour with the compounding pharmacist to go over my results.  We had so much to talk about. As I listened to my test results, I cried.  

I wasn’t crazy! 

My body wasn’t producing the hormones necessary to function as a thriving female.  I was almost depleted of all progesterone, my estrogen was beginning to tank, and my testosterone was low, as were my Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) levels.  (DHEA is a steroid hormone produced mainly by the adrenal cortex, the outer part of the two adrenal glands that are located just above the kidneys. DHEA-S serves as a building block for making the male sex hormone testosterone and the female sex hormone estrogen.  This pharmacist said I was in serious adrenal fatigue.

There was a medical reason for why I was feeling the way I was feeling.  Hallelujah!

The pharmacist called my gynecologist and went over the results with his recommendations. My doctor wrote the scripts and sent them over to Pharmacare where they were compounded. 

My bioidentical hormone therapy was ready a few days later.  As we began to go over what I was prescribed, I was overwhelmed.   

Here is what I was prescribed:

·      DHEA- 10mg once a day in the morning

·      Progesterone with Melatonin- 180 mg at bedtime

·      Adrenal Rebuilder- 3 times a day

·      Super Adrenal Stress Formula-3 times a day

·      Progesterone gel to be applied topically on Days 12-28

·      Vitamin D liquid drops- two drops under my tongue daily

·      Biotin

OK, I knew I could do this. I bought a seven-day pill organizer and went to town!  I asked the pharmacist when I would start to feel better and he said, “You tell me.” 

Within 3 days, I noticed an increase in my energy level and I started to sleep through the night again.  I also wanted to have sex again!  It was a miracle!!! 

Along with my medicine, I was given blank copies of the “Adrenal Fatigue Questionnaire.”  When I first filled it out, I scored a 65, which put me in, “ A very dangerous place.”  I was asked to take the questionnaire once a month for the next three months to see how I was feeling.  Each month got better.  I just did it again for my own records and scored a 25, which gave me the rating, “You are doing fine.”

And I am.

This fall, I had some serious breast tenderness and my doctor and the pharmacist think I may not need as much progesterone.  I am stopping the gel to see how I feel the next couple of months.  I am learning BHRT is a process, a journey of achieving and maintaining good health. 

My doctor did some blood work to monitoring my thyroid and Vitamin D levels. My thyroid is in the process of dying out.  Both my mom and sister went through a thyroid change during menopause. My mom is hyper; my sister, hypo.  Both are on synthetic thyroid medication.  The problem in regulating me, my doctor says, is that one-week I can be hyper; the next, hypo.  Honestly, I hope it just gives out so I can get on the medication.  I have a feeling I will feel even better once my thyroid is regulated.

In the meantime, this is what I know to be true:  I feel human again. I’ve lost some weight in my mid-section and know that once my thyroid is regulated, it will get even smaller. I am sleeping through the night.  I have my sense of humor back. I can snap out of a crabby patch within a day. I want to have sex again. And when I have sex now, I have powerful orgasms again.

I am female!  Hear me roar! 

Sally has one son and lives in the Cleveland-area.  

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