Changing My Life to Change the Lives of Patients
I have a confession, I have a favorite hormone – it is progesterone. I know more about progesterone than most people and honestly, I love to talk about it. Of course, why wouldn’t I? Progesterone has allowed me to not only treat symptoms of aging, but it has made a significant impact on the quality of life experienced by my patients.
Years ago, I was a professor at the University of Miami. I taught students of gynecology and obstetrics about the uses and benefits of synthetic progesterone. I stood behind what I was teaching and whole-heartedly believed that synthetic progesterone was the best solution we had to offer women suffering from common symptoms of aging – irregular periods, mood swings, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, PMS (premenstrual syndrome) and PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). Then I learned about bioidentical progesterone.
I attended a conference on anti-aging and preventive medicine and discovered that I might be wrong about synthetic progesterone – there is another option, a better option to the troubles facing aging women – bioidentical progesterone. After some study and witnessing the results other patients were experiencing with bioidentical progesterone, I made a decision that would change my life and the lives of my patients forever – I packed up my desk and told my students good-bye. I opened my personal practice, treating my patients with bioidentical hormone therapy. The results were so phenomenal! It changed my life – I was really and truly changing the lives of my patients.
Bioidentical progesterone works exactly like natural progesterone. Unlike synthetic progesterone, also known as progestin, bioidentical progesterone fits into the binding site on the cellular substrate. This perfect fit allows it to do all the jobs of progesterone such as regulate the menstrual cycle, pacify erratic mood swings, reduce water retention and bloating, as well as regulate immune response and reduce inflammation. In the past, when I prescribed progestin or birth control pills containing progestin, my patients would achieve the benefit of a more regular menstrual cycle, but the other side effects remained and, at times, were magnified.
When I made the transition to bioidentical hormones, I saw my patients’ lives change for the better and dramatically so – I had patients calling me up to tell how they finally slept soundly for the first time in years or how calm they felt. It was an honor to be able to give women back these quality of life factors that so many of us take for granted.