Check this out!!

I got a phone call at work last week from a reporter at the Sacramento Bee (the metro daily newspaper for Sacramento, which is a couple of hours from where I live).

She said she wanted to interview me about hot flashes and menopause because she was writing an article on that subject and had stumbled across my blog when doing her research. I was flattered!

Check out Anita Creamer’s article here!!

We spoke for about 10 minutes and she did end up using one of my quotes in her article. (See the link to her article above; it’s really good, and informative, too.) Fortunately I don’t suffer from hot flashes the way some women do, because I am on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) from the day after my hysterectomy back in July of 2009. The HRT I take is Estrodiol, which is a bioidentical estrogen replacement, and I take a very low dose — only 1 mg. However, it alleviates the greater part of the hot flashes. I do get hot from time to time, but I certainly don’t have them as badly as other women do who choose not to take HRT.

Taking HRT is not without its risks, but also not without its benefits. My doctor feels that I could safely be on HRT for about five years, and I’ve been on mine for a little over two years. At my annual physical last week, my doctor suggested that I try cutting the dose in half and only taking .5 mg by cutting the pill in half. I told her I’d try, but I’ve yet to do it. I just can’t bring myself to in case I begin to suffer more severe symptoms, like night sweats. Ugh. I just can hardly bear the idea of night sweats.

My doctor suggested that I try it, and if hot flashes or other symptoms become unbearable, I could return to the full dose. I just don’t want to get all emotional and sweaty. Yucky.

But we’ll see. I just guess I need to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. But I certainly don’t see this as some sort of rite of passage. If I can avoid it, I will, and be glad about it if I do. I don’t have to suffer the symptoms of menopause if they’re avoidable in order to be called a “real woman.” Some women wear their symptoms like a badge of courage; I prefer to dye my hair and pretend!!

Check out her article and about 3/4ths of the way down, there I am!!

Thank you, Anita Creamer, for allowing me my little bit of fame!