Hi Michelle:

I recently underwent a very successful breast reduction surgery and was wondering if there were other ladies on this site who might have questions about this procedure, and/or who are seeking to have it done. I would be happy to help with this since my story is quite interesting.

I am based in Los Angeles

Thank you!

Michelle,

Great site!!! You're right on track with creating a tool like this to enable women to be able to connect to other women easily. I work for a pharmaceutical company and can tell you that even in the Middle East, 80% of all health care decisions are made by women. Also women learn from other women when it comes to their health and the health of their families......so this kind of tool accelerates the natural course of what's already happening online.

Hi Michelle,

Years ago I was diagnosed with Epstein Bar which doctors are now calling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It is a very debilitating disease and there is little information about it. There is no medication to help people who suffer from it either. Do you know where I can find a specialist who deals with CFS? THANK YOU for reaching out and helping others with this website!!!!

Thankfully, my days of hot flashes and evenings of night sweats are a thing of the past.

For me, what finally worked was to get on the correct medications. Once my hormones were back in balance, these unpleasant (to put it mildly!) symptoms went away.

Have you ever heard the expression “men sweat, but women glow?”

Obviously, whoever coined that phrase wasn’t a woman dealing with menopause and night sweats.

Looking back, my night sweats were clearly part of my going through perimenopause in my early 40s. But at the time, neither my physician nor I were making that connection. He believed that it was a side effect of the medications I was taking for irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS.

Now that I’ve told you about my on-going battle with sleeplessness and insomnia, and the issues I had with taking Ambien, I’d like to talk about some of the things that I have tried, or am currently trying, to help me get a better night’s rest.

I don’t want it to ever seem like I’m only talking about what didn’t work—I also want to follow up as much as possible with solutions to the problems that I’ve experienced.

It started with the occasional sneeze – urine just came out of me. I had no control. It also happened when I laughed or coughed. At first I wasn’t too concerned about it and thought it would gradually get better. But after time it got worse instead of better. My doctor said that when my estrogen level got higher, it might get better and go away. But even tweaking my estrogen replacement therapy has had no effect. The other theory was that this issue could be a result of my hysterectomy.

(This is me, right after I had a complete hysterectomy. It's been several years, but this time in my life is indelibly imprinted in my mind....)

On the outside it appears as if I have everything a woman could possibly want. I'm living a fairy tale life with a wonderful husband, extraordinary daughter, and a beautiful home. But on the inside I am crumbling.

Disintegrating. And slowly. I'm trapped in a body that I no longer know, as if my mind and heart have been plucked from my old, familiar body and thrust into a new one that is not only foreign, it is falling apart.

In my previous post, I told you about my ongoing issues with sleeplessness and how a doctor prescribed the sleep aid Ambien in an effort to help me get some rest.

When we last left off, I was telling you about how I tried dyeing my eyelashes in my sleep, as a result of taking the drug.

I would love to tell you that that episode marked the end my relationship with Ambien, but sadly, I continued to take it.

I had a complete hysterectomy at the age of 42 and afterwards I was transformed from a highly active woman to being unable to function. I saw about a dozen different doctors and took nine different medications before I finally got the help I needed. I saw how there is a HUGE lack of information and resources on women’s health. This led me to create www.EmpowHer.com, a new health web site for women. Ultimately, my long-term goal is to reach out to every single woman around the globe and give them a voice. It’s one woman at a time. Women are going to change our health care and I want to help lead that change.