Bethany Cox, LMT

The truth is, all women are created differently. I guess we don’t fully grasp that concept until we begin to mature. Some of us are built to play basketball. Others of us are meant to sing and dance. Regardless, our bodies are uniquely fashioned, both inside and out.

Being a woman can be tough sometimes; especially when we experience “that time of the month.” The bloating, headaches, fatigue, cramping, mood swings…all seem to put our productivity on hold. I, personally, have had to deal with these symptoms in full-force every month. Menstrual cramps seem to be the worst! In the past, they have put such a strain on my body that I would have to leave work, class, appointments, etc. And I have tried every remedy in the book: Advil, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Midol, heat, naps, exercise…nothing worked! I thought I would just have to push through every month. Oh, the joys of womanhood!

When we received our first shipment of Sprayology here at Seasons, I was not sure what to think. I had grown up taking pills for pain. How effective was a homeopathic oral spray going to be? Nothing else had worked, so why would this? So I tried the PMS Support. At the beginning of my cycle, I sprayed it whenever I started to feel any cramping. Two sprays under the tongue, and in 3 minutes…gone! During that weekend, I sprayed 5-6 times daily and experienced NO cramping, NO mood swings, NO bloating, NO headaches, and was able to stay active! What a relief to finally find a safe, natural product that actually fulfills its purpose!

Now, I carry PMS Support with me everywhere. During my cycle, I am able to keep up with my busy schedule and never miss a beat! A bottle of PMS Support lasts for months, is FDA approved, and is safe to spray every 15 minutes until symptoms are relieved.

If you are like me and have tried everything, then you need to try one more product…PMS Support. Sprayology products are available at Seasons in Ruston.

PMS Support By Sprayology, $24

Relieves common symptoms of PMS including:

• cramps
• emotional fluctuations
• fluid retention
• irregular menstruation

Recommended for those who want a natural option for fast relief of pre-menstrual syndrome symptoms.

PRODUCT BENEFITS

The therapeutic benefits of the ingredients described below are from clinical evidence reported in the major homeopathic materia medicas accepted throughout the world.

SYMPTOMS RELIEVED

Cramps

• Cimicifuga (Blacksnake Root, Black Cohosh) – relieves uterine cramps
• Mag Phos (Magnesium Phosphate Dibasic) – provides natural pain relief; relieves lower abdominal cramps
• Cuprum Met (Copper) – relieves cramps
• Chamomilla (Chamomile) – eases strong menstrual cramps and lessens nipple tenderness
• Oophorinum (Ovarian extract) – relieves ovarian pain and helps prevent ovarian cyst formation

Emotional fluctuations

• Ignatia (St. Ignatius’ bean) – eases stress, nervousness, irritability and sadness
• Cuprum Met (Copper) – helps to calm fears
• Platinum Met (Platinum) – calms anxiety
• Chamomilla (Chamomile) – promotes calmness; eases restlessness

Fluid retention

• Apis Mel (Honey Bee) – reduces the accumulation of fluid in the tissues
• Sepia (Cuttlefish) – reduces bloated stomach

Irregular menstruation

• Cimicifuga (Blacksnake Root, Black Cohosh) – helps regulate the menstrual cycle
• Ignatia (St. Ignatius’ bean) – normalize early or light menstruation
• Mag Phos (Magnesium Phosphate) – helps prevent irregular menstrual cycle
• Thuja Occ (Tree of Life) – treatment to restore menstrual cycle regularity
• Kali Iod (Potassium Iodine) – normalizes late menstrual cycle; normalizes heavy menstrual cycle

For more information about this and other Sprayology products, contact Seasons at 318-255-1155.

Essure is the first and only FDA approved permanent birth control procedure to have zero pregnancies in clinical trails. With Essure, Dr. Goodyear inserts spring-like coils, called micro-inserts, through the body’s natural pathways (vagina, cervix, and uterus) and into your fallopian tubes. There is absolutely no cutting or burning of your body during this procedure!

During the first three months following the procedure, your body and the micro-inserts work together to form a tissue barrier that prevents sperm from reaching the egg. After these three months, Dr. Goodyear will perform an Essure Confirmation Test, a special type of x-ray to confirm that your tubes are completely blocked and that you can rely on the Essure micro-inserts for birth control.

The benefits included:

- No cutting into the body so there are no unattractive scars.

- 99.80% effective (based on 4 years of clinical data)

- Quick return to normal activities

- This procedure is performed in-office with minimal anesthesia.

- No hormones or silicone to interfere with your body

o Unlike birth control pills, patches, rings, and some forms of IUDs, Essure does not contain hormones to interfere with your natural menstrual cycle.

o Your periods should more or less continue in their normal state.

- Peace of mind with the Essure Confirmation Test.

http://www.essure.com/

Dr. Nathan Goodyear

After my last post on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS or PCO), a reader from Arizona emailed us and said: “My doctor prescribed metformin for me and my periods came back after 5 months of no periods!! It also is helping me lose some weight. Keep in mind, I am overweight, hypertensive, and have slightly elevated cholesterol. Ugh!”

Let’s focus on her two implied questions. First, why did her periods return when she started taking metformin? Second, why she has lost weight? As we address those two questions, you’ll learn more about our treatment strategy for PCO at Seasons Women’s Care.

As I explained in my last post, PCO is characterized by

• High insulin levels and insulin resistance
• High androgen levels (think testosterone)
• Irregular cycles (due to anovulation)

Additionally, many women gain weight.

At Seasons we focus on alleviating these three areas without introducing any side effects. You work with the body, the body will work for you! Let’s go over them one at a time.

Elevated Insulin

Elevated insulin is the result of poor insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance. The most commonly prescribed insulin medicine used today is the drug metformin. This is a diabetes medicine that improves insulin sensitivity and reduces the liver production of glucose. Metformin can also be associated with significant gastrointestinal side effects, though.

Metformin isn’t the only treatment to reduce insulin resistance. Alpha-lipoic acid also works, and it doesn’t have the side effects associated with metformin.

However, the easiest way to improve insulin resistance is through weight loss. You read that right. Merely losing weight will result in improved insulin sensitivity. At Seasons, we help all women with PCOS to lose weight through nutrition.

One final note about insulin. High insulin levels appear to be a primary factor in testosterone production (discussed below) because insulin binds to specific receptors in the ovaries that augment testosterone production.

Our strategy at Seasons: We work to improve insulin resistence and lower insulin levels, using weight loss, Lipoic acid, and metformin (if necessary).

Elevated Testosterone

Many drugs today are prescribed to lower testosterone. These include spirinolactone, finesteride, cyproterone acetate, dexamethasone, Lupron, flutamide, and finesteride. These are big drugs, and they can have big side effects.

At Seasons, we attack the cause at the source: lack of progesterone and elevated insulin.

OK, this part is a bit technical. Progesterone dominates the last two weeks of a cycle, following ovulation. When you don’t ovulate, your body lacks progesterone. When your progesterone levels decrease, your body stimulates more testosterone production. Raising progesterone levels again can reduce the stimulation to the ovaries for more testosterone production.

Even more important for most women, progesterone lowers the testosterone to dihydrotestosterone conversion. This will reduce the facial hair, hair loss, and acne so commonly associated with PCO.

Progesterone also improves a women’s estrogen dominance (high estrogen to progesterone ratio), and thus improves weight loss.

Our strategy at Seasons: We work with your body to lower testosterone levels more naturally by addressing the root causes of decreased progesterone levels and elevated insulin levels.

Irregular Cycles

Irregular cycles are a hallmark of PCOS. They are, however, just a symptom of the hormone problem. A woman’s uterus will only do what her body tells her to do. You might call the uterus a “Yes, Ma’am” organ. This is why removing a woman’s uterus won’t fix the problem.

The problem is hormone imbalance: high testosterone, high insulin, and low progesterone. When we add progesterone back in, we can address the high testosterone and the low progesterone problems. Additionally, we help women eat better and encourage them to eliminate their exposure to environmental toxins. This helps a woman lose weight, and it helps her body’s insulin sensivity and estrogen dominance.

Now, what about birth control pills? Most of your friends are probably on birth control pills to treat PCOS. Birth control pills do correct the cycle issues, but they replace a hormone imbalance with a hormone overload. This can be a big band-aid with dangerous consequences.

Of course, band-aids aren’t solutions. But we’re more concerned about the consequences of long term birth control. It has been shown to increase your chances of breast cancer and weight gain.

Our strategy at Seasons: When we treat PCOS, we look to the root causes, not quick fix band-aids. Treating the causes—high testosterone, high insulin, and low progesterone—results in long-term solutions that restore your overall health.

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Some women experience bleeding that lasts more than seven consecutive days and at a volume greater than 80cc. Of course, exactly how much you are bleeding during your period is very difficult to quantify.

Some women experience bleeding between periods. Others experience both excessive bleeding and bleeding between periods.

Women can also experience abnormally short period cycles (every 21 days or less) and abnormally long period cycles (every 35 days or more).

If you experiencing any of these symptoms, call your doctor and set up an appointment.