A Woman Like You

Join others across the world for a peaceful perimenopause.

This week has been incredible as I celebrated—alongside all of you—the official release of Before the Change. This update and expansion is filled with new research, including the latest information on Hormone Replacement Therapy, mood swings, weight gain, and a tasty, menopause-minded meal plan.

You’ll also find:

• A clear explanation of perimenopause symptoms and a self-diagnosis quiz
• Safe and natural alternatives to hormone therapy, including healing vitamins, minerals, herbs, and natural hormones
• A guide to nutrition and healthy diet, with foods that prevent and alleviate symptoms
• An expanded section on the pros and cons of soy as a natural phytoestrogen
• An expanded discussion of hypothyroidism, its connection to hormonal imbalances, and the best natural treatments
• A full analysis of HRT, including safe weaning advice for synthetic hormones, and an overview of herbal, lifestyle, and diet modifications for women who’ve had a hysterectomy, have risk factors or history of breast cancer, osteoporosis, or heart disease

But, don’t take it solely from me. Since before the original release of this New York Times bestseller, I’ve worked with countless clients who came to me feeling as if their bodies had betrayed them. They left with a restored sense of wellness, harmony and peace.

Here’s one of those stories.

Maggie

At forty-three, Maggie had three teenaged daughters, the oldest of whom was nineteen. She had returned to her career as a chartered accountant when the youngest started school. Her husband and she were happily married, shared a relatively high joint income, and had a lovely home in a neighborhood her family enjoyed.

About a month after her forty-third birthday, acute depression hit Maggie out of nowhere. She had known what it was like to have the blues from time to time and had mourned the deaths of both her beloved parents. Th is depression was nothing like grieving or having the blues. It hit her so strongly, its impact felt physical as well as emotional. It felt like a giant hand pressing her down, and it came and went unpredictably, and when it went, it was never far away. Over the next three months her depression became so debilitating that she had to take a leave of absence from her accounting fi rm.

Although she saw a psychologist, she had a hard time relieving her depression through weekly talk therapy alone. She next saw a psychiatrist, who tried out different kinds of antidepressants, none of which made her feel much better. Maggie stopped seeing her psychiatrist when she felt the side effects of the medication, like weight gain and fatigue, did not justify any benefit she received from the daily pills.

One evening Maggie was lying on her bed with the lights out and the door closed, feeling bad and increasingly desperate, when her eldest daughter knocked on the door and came in. Without any explanation, she handed her mother a bottle of black cohosh pills and a glass of water. Maggie, surprised at her blind trust in her daughter, swallowed two pills, and her daughter left the room.

The next day, Maggie felt a little better. The depression wasn’t gone, but she felt motivated to get out of bed and eat a proper breakfast in the kitchen with her family for the first time in months. She didn’t feel spritely, but this was an improvement over her usual routine of eating toaster pastries in bed. She asked her daughter about the pills, but the nineteen-year-old was evasive. She said that a friend had given them to her. Finally, Maggie discovered that black cohosh was an herb for perimenopause.

“I think you feel bad because of your hormones,” her daughter said, adding defensively, “My friends think so too.”

Although her daughter’s concern troubled her, Maggie couldn’t help smiling at the thought of the serious conversations that her now adult daughter and her friends must have been having about her. The smile felt almost foreign. It had been a long time since she had smiled. In that moment, Maggie realized the impact her depression had been having on herself and her entire family. And she knew immediately that her daughter and her friends were right. Why hadn’t hormonal changes occurred to her?

“Where did you get the pills?” she asked her daughter.

“From my girlfriend’s mother, who went to see this person who’s a nutritionist who helped someone else’s mother who had a hard time too.”

Maggie looked at her daughter in amazed gratitude.

When she came to see me the following day, Maggie related her story. We discussed how black cohosh had made such a difference to her emotional state. I explained to her how perimenopausal hormonal changes can affect mood and depression, and how her dramatic results indicated that she was on the right track.

After saliva tests, a few visits, and a few months on black cohosh and progesterone cream, Maggie’s symptoms of depression, although much better, were still prevalent. At my suggestion, she consulted a
physician, who agreed to put her on a low dose of natural hormone replacement therapy. Maggie also began using vitamin E as a complementary therapy, which in time enabled her to further reduce her dosage of natural hormones. Keeping the dosage down allowed the body to be more receptive to possible higher doses later if the depression got worse. This is a helpful option to reserve. Luckily the combination of natural hormones and vitamin E did the trick.

It is important not to underestimate the seriousness of some perimenopause symptoms. If ignored, some symptoms can give rise to a whole series of new symptoms. And the longer symptoms go untreated, the harder they can be to get rid of. Depression is a particularly debilitating condition, because it causes us to be vulnerable to many physical ailments and keeps us from fully participating in our lives.

Before, During and After the Change

Are you ready to take back control of your body and enjoy a peaceful perimenopause? Order your copy of Before the Change today—and don’t forget about the FREE bonus gifts! I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported this launch. It’s truly incredible to get to hear the stories from women of a wide variety of ages and stages who have experienced profound changes using my protocols.