Rating: Summary: men ob-gyns Review: It has always amazed me that male doctors have the nerve to consider themselves experts on womens' bodies. I will never go to a male ob-gyn. If they can never suffer the symptoms themselves, then how can they be experts at what happens to a woman?
Rating: Summary: Love yourself enough to read this book. Review: It's not like menopause happens one day and you just take the day off. It happens over time AND it doesn't have to be a bad experience. This book will educate you about what is really happening in your body in the years leading to menopause. It will encourage you to give up the myths about female health created in large part by doctors and pharmaceutical companies.
Rating: Summary: This Should Be Mandatory Reading For all 30+ Women Review: John Lee, MD, has some of the most intelligent advice I've ever seen for women approaching menopause. He addresses the fact that premenopausal changes begin in the 30s, what sorts of things might be related, and gives frank, no-nonsense advice on how to manage menopause and premenopause without HRT. Of particular interest in the section that explains why many doctors find HRT to be such a money-maker - including such things as hysterectomy, instant menopause, and so on. This book should be mandatory reading for any woman in her 30s who is dealing with sudden weight gain, migraines, irritability, anxiety - all the sorts of things that go with hormonal changes.
Rating: Summary: Be careful--science not good --get hormones measured first! Review: Let me first qualify that I used to be a researcher for a major health magazine--I've got a good medical background and am familiar with doctors often being very opinionated about their theories being THE correct theories. I'm 38 and have been dealing with health problems for a while, one of them being thinning bones (I'm nearly at osteoporosis level, found through a DEXA bone scan), despite taking appropriate calcium supplements. My doctor just recommended taking more supplements. Went to another doctor who recommended I get my hormones measured. [By the way, many doctors resist doing this; however, the blood test is reliable and accurate--just make sure you know what stage of your cycle you're in so that you can understand the results of your tests.] Mine came back with progesterone being TOO HIGH (despite having most of the symptoms that Dr. Lee contributes to LOW progesterone), and my estradiol (estrogen) level was abyssmally low--nearly that of a post-menopausal woman! This explains a lot. Dr. Lee likes to blame so many things in his book on "estrogen dominance" yet I think he's waaaaay off on many of his "scientific" conclusions. So many of them left me wanting to see his references and to ask how he came to those conclusions while discounting other obvious factors. In addition, p.333: "Some women who have irregular bleeding are prescribed estrogen by their doctors. There's really no good reason to give estrogen to women who are still menstruating... the very fact that you're menstruating indicates that you're very unlikely to be deficient in estrogen." WRONG, as my own case shows! [I'd recommend reading the book "Screaming to be Heard" by Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.--much better science, and counters some of Lee's claims with evidence.] I DO believe that woman can and do have progesterone deficiencies, but I would advise getting your hormone levels checked before doing any hormone therapy. Your body is unique, so don't go with a blanket recommendation because someone "thinks" you have a deficiency--get proof first! And please read some of the reviews written here--some woman have greatly benefited from Lee's book, while others clearly show his book did them a big disservice. [Also, I recommend getting the full-body (DEXA) bone scan, even if you're in your 30's. The ankle bone density can be highly inaccurate (mine came back normal, yet the DEXA shows I'm almost in osteoporosis).] Good luck!
Rating: Summary: This book may have saved a life ! Review: No kidding... I purchased two copies; one for myself, and one for my sister. At 30+ her rages were becomming uncontrollable. The odd thing is... she HATES to read. One of the most remarkable features of this book, is its ease in reading. You can look up symptoms and receive instant information relative to the problem you're dealing with. She suspected she had endomitriosis based on her research with this book. Voila! She took the book with her to her doctor, and they confirmed her suspicions and with various therapies, she's a new person! Now, we can all drive safely!
Rating: Summary: A must-read for all women 35 and up. Review: PREVENT A HYSTERECTOMY: I write this after just having had surgery (abdominal hysterectomy) two weeks ago ... and having come across the book only two weeks prior to surgery. If only two or three months ago I'd been aware of Dr. Lee's book, I truly believe my hysterectomy could have been prevented, nevertheless, refusing my doctor's recommended HRT, I tried the progesterone cream and was amazed with the immediate results: headaches were alleviated; improved mental acuity, energy, and skin tone. Had I known of the book's contents 15 years ago, I believe I would have saved myself from not only surgery and fibrous breast tissue, but numerous other debilitating ailments: migraines, clinical depression, fatigue, lack of concentration along with other symptoms which Dr. Lee listed due to estrogen dominance. My doctor did what he believed to be best for me, however, being conventional, he prescribed therapy which only enhanced the estrogen dominance, leading ultimately to excessive bleeding and anemia. Only after surgery was he able to tell me either my ovary or uterus was four times normal size -- hyperestrogen (loaded with it)! His recommendation had been a total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy (removal of uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and both ovaries), however, he honored my request to save both ovaries if possible ... (even though only one remains). If not for Dr. Lee, I'd never have requested such. Even though I have regrets of not knowing earlier of this informative book, I am extremely thankful for the knowledge of progesterone cream application versus conventional HRT. I look forward to renewed life ahead! Thank you, Dr. Lee! ... P.S. I'm hunting for a doctor who practices alternative medicine.
Rating: Summary: Happy Days! Review: Suffering for the last few years with insomnia, bloating, wicked mood changes, hormonal headaches, and heavy periods, I searched the bookstores for some help. After reading John R. Lee's book about premenopause, I ran to the vitamin store to find some progesturine. The woman that ran the store knew just who I was talking about and carried the natural progesturine creams that he prescribes in his book and provided me with a free cassette tape from one of his lectures. I have been following the directions on the back of the cream for three months now. I am so happy to say that it works for me. I have not had any of the problems that I listed above in three months. My family is happier than I am. I would recommend this book to any woman to read. I hope you have the same wonderful results. Happy Days! Susan Motley
Rating: Summary: Invaluable Information for any Woman Review: This book answered many questions I had about PMS, cramps, weight-gain and painful breasts in the run-up to it, irregular periods, and many, many others, which no doctor has ever addressed adequately for me. I am only 30, but looking back on my life and diet from the perspective offered by the book, I can see that I have done everything to create an estrogen-dominance condition in my body, which in turn has resulted in these symptoms. What several years of birth-control pills, low-fat/high-carbohydrate dieting, excessive consumption of caffeine and sugar, and a high-stress job. The authors explain that estrogen dominance is a condition endemic to our culture and yet very badly understood (or simply ignored) by conventional medicine and pharmaceutical industry. It is a precursor to many illnesses, particularly those related to women's reproductive health (including infertility, breast cancer, cervical cancer, urinary tract infections, fibroids, etc.). They emphasize a balanced diet and stress reduction as crucial factors in bringing your hormones back to normal, and explain the use of natural progesterone in alleviating estrogen dominance. Loads of rarely available information on how the meet packed with hormones and antibiotics (almost all the meat in your local supermarket) and produce sprayed with pesticides (almost all the produce in your local supermarket) contribute to women's deseases. Get this book - it may very well help you forestall a hysterectomy, infertility, breast cancer or a painful menopause.
Rating: Summary: If you are a woman between 15 & 95 you deserve this book! Review: This book gives us the information we need to make informed decisions about our bodies and what we can do to balance the estrogen issue. I have read this book and heeded Dr. Lee's advice about progesterone creams and I feel so much better! His book gives us information about issues such as PMS,Pre-Menapause & Post Menapause. Please get this book and see what our Doctors may or may not know about how hormones really work in our bodies.
Rating: Summary: OH MY GOD! ALL women should buy this book NOW! Review: This book has an UNBELIEVABLE amount of vital information regarding women's health. It should be renamed "What Your Doctor Is NOT Telling You About Your HEALTH!". For years I have suffered with PMS.. irritability.. foggy thinking.. mood swings.. severe anxiety.. at age 32 I suddenly gained 50 lbs all around my stomach and upper body.. lost my cycle for 6 months.. headaches.. severe exhaustion.. short breath.. and tingling hands and feet. These things came pretty much out of the blue and hit me like a ton of bricks. I had just moved to a very polluted city and suspected that was the problem.
The DR. tested and said I was going through early menopause. AT 33 YEARS OLD. Most everthing had to do with HRT (drugs drugs drugs) My general mistrust of western medicine sent me to accupuncture and chinese herbs which cured me about 75% back the the vibrant woman I used to be. Wanting to be back 100%, I found this book and it has been a godsend. It is so detailed, it's like reading a fine medical journal but VERY easy to understand. It scientifically attributes PMS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, INFERTILITY, CANCER (breast and reproductive), CYSTS AND FIBROIDS, among other things to the imbalance of hormones, mainly an estrogen dominance. It scientifically attributes estrogen dominance PRIMARILY TO THE EXCESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS (Xenohormones as they're called) causing sensitivities in all of us women AND men. It explains why taking antidepressants or synthetic hormones or birthcontrol will NEVER cure you of these symptoms and sometimes cause worse things and it gives very detailed scientific evidence and studies of the different aggrivators of hormonal imbalance namely synthetic hormones (birthcontrol pills, HRT), and other cancer causing substances FOREIGN to the body.
There's information on how DRUG COMPANIES SPENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLORS ON ADVERTISING controls how your Dr. will respond to your health issues. How the media takes a very passive role when it comes to drug companies (notice how many drug ads on tv) and why they are constantly piping out information regurgitated by the drug companies. Why it's in your dr's best interest to hand you drugs and do unnecessary surgeries instead of get to the bottom of your health issues. Throughout the book Dr. Lee and Dr. Hanley tell you many things, one of which is how using NATURAL non-synthetic progesterone cream, food changes, adding vitamins can help reverse these symptoms, balance your life and bring you back to health. If you're the kind of woman who doesn't like to just take a pill and not ask any questions as to WHY these problems are happening in such epidemic proportions and WHY doesn't the Dr. give you real reasons why you need a hystorectomy, what causes infertility, why your dr. is so big on just handing out pills without getting to the real cause, then THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY for YOU, YOUR SISTERS, YOUR MOTHERS, YOUR FEMALE FRIENDS. We must take an active role in our health and this book will DEFINITELY help us do that. Thank my lucky stars for this book!
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