Terri’s Story – Hysterectomy, Premarin
In August 2004, I had a total hysterectomy at the age of 33. At that time I was dealing with continual pain due to a large cyst returning to my right ovary, and my gynecologist convinced me that this was my only option. Up to this point, I was either having surgery to remove the cysts or they were bursting, leaving me with debilitating pain. After the surgery, I was put on the patch only to find out it did not stick to my skin very well, after 2 days of a 7-day treatment, it would fall off. My gynecologist then switched me to Premarin. That is when major problems started.
I turned into a person that my family and friends did not even recognize. I spent the next 8 months trying to destroy relationships, hiding from people and walking around in a total daze. My attitude which was “Live life to its fullest” then became “I just want to die”. I kept having periods where I would go into total rage or fall apart and shut everyone out of my life. My 12 year old son could not understand what happened to the wonderful, happy mother he used to know, now she was very sick and unhappy everyday. It just kept getting worse. I began having 4 – 5 hour periods where I would become very suicidal and wake up not remembering a thing I said or did. My husband and best friend said my eyes would glaze over, my pupils would dilate, and my speech became very slurred. My husband was continually staying home from work and our personal business was hurting badly since I was responsible for running it. My life was a mess.
Then one night it all came crashing down; I was totally out of control back in one of my “fog” states. My best friend rushed me to my family practitioner and, knowing me as well as he did, he immediately started trying to locate a facility for me. They called my husband to come home from work. At this time, I was on Effexor for depression and seeing a therapist. My husband spent the entire night working with my family doctor and looking on the internet trying to research places while laying by my side to watch over me. By the next morning, I was back to what we knew at that time as normal and did not remember a thing. My husband and I got in the car and headed to Houston visiting numerous places.
No place was equipped to handle my problems because my husband knew I was not losing my mind before the surgery. Since there was no way he would commit me, we headed home. While on Loop 610 in the Galleria area, the phone rang; it was one of my husband’s coworkers. He said he heard Dr. Hotze a couple of days prior, and he dealt with hormone imbalances. We called immediately. After spending 45 minutes on the phone with someone, we felt like there was hope. She scheduled me for the earliest time available. During our first visit, my husband and I were treated like real people with real issues. It did not take long for my doctor to realize that estrogen had a bad effect on me. I think the most relief I received immediately was that they had seen all of my symptoms before. After a very intense exam, they determined which bio-identical hormones were needed. It took me approximately two months to decrease my dosage of anti-depressants until I no longer needed them.
Within 3 days I felt better, and within 2 weeks I had my life back. I feel like I lost a year of my life and nearly ended it. This document only scratches the surface of what my family, friends and I went through. I thank God everyday for that phone call. I would not have made it without the loving support of my friends and family.
Even if you do not vote for me, please get on the Hotze site and register your name to stop the makers of Premarin from getting bio-identical hormones pulled from the market.
Thank you for reading my story and may God Bless You.
Have you had a hysterectomy? Has your doctor put you on Premarin? Contact us today – we can help you get your life back.
