Women's Health

     Having a new doctor who is helping me with hormonal issues is a great blessing.
     But I am so, so mad for all of us women, who are just plain lucky if we are the one in a million who get good are regarding our health!
     Women in their 40's go through hormonal changes.  These changes do not bring about mild symptoms.  They routinely bring about severe depression, severe anxiety, and foggy-mindedness; these problems can turn into marriage problems, friendship problems, and work problems.  When I think of the women I know--from my mom to my aunts to my grandmothers to friends of the family--and what their 40's were like, I shudder, wondering how many of the divorces and the mid-life crises were rooted in hormonal issues that were unrecognized as such.
     Thankfully, I practice Natural Family Planning, which means I have a zero-tolerance policy with synthetic hormones( the pill, etc.).  Thankfully, my friends do, too.  And thankfully once again, some of them knew of the symptoms (above stated) so that when I cautiously mentioned my symptoms to my friends, they were like a tiger on prey, determined to help me beat the odds and get the right kind of help.
     I am intensely grateful to them.  And I am equally upset about how hard it is for a woman to get adequate health care.  Today's doctors see synthetic pharmaceuticals as the answer to all our problems.  "Put her on the pill" or "Put her on anti-depressants" is the answer for everything.  But this masks so many of the real problems, and does not adequately address them.  I am so glad that I am getting real help!