Hormone Heaven Bonus Chapter · naturally. It is truly a must-read for all women.” Tracey Stranger Author of How To Overcome Stress Naturally “This is a book all women should

E VA TO R N E R

A practical guide for women to restorehealth and harmony naturally.

from

HELLHormone

to

HEAVENHormone

iv

“ This book will be of incredible value to the modern woman as hormonalimbalances are an issue for so many. Eva offers a holistic approach includingphysical, mental and emotional methods. This gives women a real power ofchoice with easy-to-follow actions. In a world where so many women godown the medical path, Eva offers a new option by providing this naturalself-help way forward.

The book outlines the steps to get your hormones back in balance in aneasy-to-understand format and everyday language, yet contains a lot ofreally important information that any woman suffering from a hormonalimbalance should be aware of.”

Catherine GoumaNaturopath/Homoeopath

“ THANK YOU so much Eva.

How many people do we know that have dealt with varying degrees ofhormonal imbalance...and haven’t known what to do?

They’ve either continued to suffer or taken a path of treatment that maynot be truly beneficial for their health.

Your holistic approach to achieving hormonal health gives us all theinformation we need to make better and wiser choices; from improvingdiet and food choices, to nutritional support, reducing toxins in our life andeven information on sleep and emotions. Everyone who reads this bookcan take something away and start working their way FROM HORMONEHELL TO HORMONE HEAVEN.

So congratulations to you on a book that is personal, easy to read and agreat tool for all of us who want the best hormonal health.”

Lillian ReekieAuthor of Hidden Dangers, The Best Me I Can Be and

The Revolting Child; A Blessing in Disguise

Testimonies

v

“At last! A book that helps women to get their hormones back in balancein simple to understand language and a format that anyone can follow.”

Dr. Gordon KuMedical Practitioner

“ Hormonal Imbalances are an issue for so many women. This book hasa wealth of vital information, with practical, self-help steps for everydayliving to effectively shift your life From Hormone Hell to Hormone Heaven,naturally. It is truly a must-read for all women.”

Tracey StrangerAuthor of How To Overcome Stress Naturally

“ This is a book all women should get at maturity.

Living a balanced and healthy life can be a challenge. Many times ourhormones are unbalanced and we don’t realise that this is the cause ofmany of the health and emotional problems we are facing. This is a verytimely and succinct book for our current stressful lives where hormonalimbalances are an issue for so many.

Eva offers a holistic approach including physical, mental and emotionalmethods that will help to balance your life naturally. This gives women thepower to make more informed choices with easy-to-follow actions.

In a world where so many follow the traditional medical methods, Evaoffers new options by providing examples of the many natural things thatcan be done to improve your hormonal health and take back control ofyour life.

This book provides easy, effective solutions to help us create happier, moreharmonious lives and is a book we know all women have definitely beenwaiting for.”

John and Linda BallisBestselling authors and alternative practitioners

Dip. Clin. Hyp, Dip. Nat., Dip R.M. Dip H.b. Med., Dip. Hom., Dip. Irid.www.WheelofLifeBook.com

vi

“ Eva’s story is inspiring and really shows that any woman has the powerwithin her to take control of her own health and create the life that she wants.”

Dr Daryl Grantwww.AndrewandDaryl.com

“ Congratulations, Eva! Your personal story and life lessons that are woventhrough the pages of this book will inspire readers to take responsibility fortheir own health and wellbeing.”

Amber ZenereAuthor of RED Armchair Entrepreneurs

Founder, Real Estate Development Club; Director, Archizen Architects

“ Eva Torner is passionate about saving other women from all theunnecessary suffering caused by hormonal issues. She has written thisbook so that they will not have to go through the lengthy search that sheundertook as she sought solutions to improve her quality of life.

There can be no better testimony for other women than the many positivechanges that Eva has enjoyed by applying the valuable information thatshe discovered. In her new book, ‘From Hormone Heaven to HormoneHell’, she has now presented it in a simple and straightforward formatmaking it easy for anyone to follow.

As a personal friend of Eva’s, I highly recommend this book to you andto anyone that you know of who would like to make informed decisionsabout their own hormonal health.

Good Health to you all.”Dianne Caldwell

www.livethepassion.com.au

I dedicate this book to all women who desire tolive a healthy and empowered life.

Eva Torner

On the wisdom of women

A woman hears the melody of flowers in the wind.She sees the beauty of the Unseen.

She feels the tugs and pulls and urges of life.She knows when it is time to run, and time to rest;

time to laugh and time to cry;time to hold on and time to let go.

Neale Donald WalschMeditations from Conversations with God

DISCLAIMER

The information in this book is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace

the advice of physicians or health care practitioners. It is also not intended to diagnose

or prescribe treatment for any illness or disorder. Anyone already undergoing physician-

prescribed therapy should seek the advice of his or her doctor before reducing their dosage

or stopping such treatment.

FIRST EDITIION (2010)

C opyright© 2010 (E va Torner)

A ll rights reserved. No part of this publication m ay be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

system , or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Torner, Eva

From Hormone Hell to Hormone Heaven:

A practical guide for w omen to restore health and harmony naturally.

1st ed.

ISBN: 9781921630262 (pbk.)

612.405

Published by Global Publishing G roup

PO Box 517 M t Evelyn, Victoria 3796 Australia

E m ail: info@ TheG lobalPublishingG roup.com

x

Acknowledgements ix

Contents x

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: What is Hormone Hell? 5

Chapter 2: From Hormone Hell to Hormone Heaven - My Story 21

Chapter 3: Removing the toxins you are exposed to every day 39

Chapter 4: The importance of nutrition for hormonal balance 57

Chapter 5: Natural solutions to help balance your hormones 83

Chapter 6: Stress and your hormonal balance 97

Chapter 7: Some additional things you can do 105

Chapter 8: Are you still feeling tired? 111

Chapter 9: Natural ways to overcome stress 121

Chapter 10: The importance of exercise 147

Chapter 11: The importance of sleep 155

Chapter 12: Emotional and mental wellbeing 165

Chapter 13: Towards your emotional freedom 195

Chapter 14: Creating a life of balance and grace 215

Chapter 15: Welcome to Hormone Heaven! 237

Appendix A 241

References 242

About the Author 245

Contents

1

Imagine being healthy and happy and living each day full of vibrantenergy. You wake up every morning glowing with good health and overallwellbeing.

You are smiling and looking forward to the day ahead.

Does this sound like a dream come true? Well, that’s just one of thewonderful things that having your hormones in balance can do for you. Inthis book, you’re going to learn how you can achieve this.

As we start this journey together, you might like to ask yourself, what hasmotivated you to read this book? Is it that you can relate to some of thesymptoms at the back of the book and want to improve your health? Well,if that’s the case then you’re in the right place.

Maybe you’ve tried a few things but they haven’t really worked and youwant to try something else. I know that when I was suffering from thesymptoms of hormone imbalance, but before I knew of their cause, thatI was looking for solutions everywhere. It wasn’t easy to find informationin language that was simple to understand. I ended up reading booksthat were like thick manuals written by doctors and naturopaths in quitetechnical language and not always easy to understand.

What you may not realise is that as many as up to 75 percent of womensuffer from the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. That’s a lot of womenhaving their health and lifestyles affected unnecessarily when there are somany simple things they can do that could really make a difference. It’s justknowing what the simple things are and where to find this informationthat can be the challenge.

This book is for women of all ages, from puberty right through tomenopause, as many of the causes of hormonal imbalance can affectwomen of almost any age.

One of the important messages I want to get across is that sufferingfrom the symptoms of hormone imbalance is not a normal part of beinga woman. Yet, this problem has become so widespread, that it has evenbecome a joke at women’s expense, and society would have you believe

Introduction

2

that it’s all part and parcel of being a woman. Well, that’s not true! It’snot acceptable and it doesn’t have to be like that. You don’t have to acceptliving your life this way.

Firstly, one of the most important things to realise is that your health isyour own responsibility. You can choose whether you are moving towardsbeing sick or towards being healthy. The choice and responsibility are yours.Another important thing is that it will involve action and commitment onyour part. I can give you the best information in the world, but if you aren’twilling to take the action and follow the necessary steps, then your healthand wellbeing, and consequently your life, are not going to improve.

So I ask you to make a commitment to yourself to take the action necessaryto improve your health. By improving your health in all aspects - physical,mental, emotional and spiritual - you will find that this will affect your lifein many ways. In a reasonably short space of time you will find that youhave an amazing new life and may hardly recognise yourself.

I wrote this book because I wanted to help other women who areexperiencing the same health challenges that I experienced. I wentthrough a lot of pain and suffering for many years and it took me a lot ofresearch, reading, consulting natural health professionals and so on to findthe solutions to my health challenges. Thankfully, these are things of thepast now.

One of the unique features about this book is that it is written by someonewho has actually been on the journey, from hell to back, healed herself andis now sharing this knowledge.

I’m not a qualified practitioner, but a student, who is dedicated to gainingthe required knowledge from a variety of different sources. I have kept theformat of the book in simple to understand everyday language and haveonly included a small amount of the research behind what I’m sharing.

Let me assure you that I’ve read many books written by medical doctorsand alternative health practitioners among my resources to learn thisinformation. As I mentioned, many of these books were very large books,

3

written in small print and used very technical language. When I beganmy journey, they were the only books that I could find, and since I wasdetermined to find a solution, I studied many of them.

It would have been very helpful for me, at that time, if there was a simplebook available that I could pick up, read and then just follow the steps. Thisis what I have provided in this book.

If you would like to do further research, that option is always available toyou, and you can begin by reading some of the books listed in the referencesection. My goal was to save you time and make it easy so that you canstart getting better first.

To get the best out of this book, I suggest you read it with an open mind.You may feel sceptical about some of the things I have said, and you mayeven consider other parts to be controversial.

When I first discovered this information, I felt the same way. I truly didn’tbelieve some of the things that I learnt. But when I continued educatingmyself and I began to hear and read the same information from manydifferent unrelated sources, I started to believe that there was some truthbehind what was being said. I found it interesting and significant that thesame information was coming to me from so many different directions.

For me, however, the best confirmation occurred when I startedimplementing some of the things that I was learning. Although at the timeI had a lot of doubts, my health started to improve amazingly in all sorts ofdifferent ways, just as had been suggested. In fact, within a relatively shortspace of time, it was difficult to remember just how bad things had been.

I have chosen to bring you only the information that had a direct impacton improving my health and which I considered were important for youto know. There were many other things I learnt along the way, but as theyweren’t relevant here or didn’t have a direct impact, I have left them out.

This book is set out so that at first you will learn what the symptoms ofhormonal imbalance are and what are some of the major contributors tothis condition. Then I share my own personal story and experiences. From

4

there, the book takes you on a chapter by chapter, step-by-step journeyoutlining the recommended solutions that I discovered. I also share furtherglimpses of my personal journey as we progress throughout the book.

At the end of each chapter I outline a summary of the steps based on theinformation contained in the chapter as“ Hormone Heaven Steps”. Theseare the simple action steps that you can take that will move you along yourown journey towards healing your hormonal health.

As I want this book to be the start of your lifetime journey of good health,I have offered you some free gifts that will increase your learning and helpyou to continue along the path towards greater health and wellbeing in allareas of your life. All you need to do is go to the website for this book andregister your details in the Readers-only Gift Section, and I will send outsome of the gifts. Others will be available for you to download. I trust thatyou will take advantage of these free offers as, remember, it is the actionthat you take while you read this book and afterwards that will make allthe difference to your ongoing health and success.

So, here’s to your learning and healing and your own journey towardsHormone Heaven!

With warmest wishes,

Eva Torner

5

Chapter 1

What is Hormone Hell?

6

From Hormone Hell to Hormone Heaven

www.HormoneHelltoHormoneHeaven.com

Chapter 1: What is Hormone Hell?Imagine what’s it like to wake up in the morning feeling just as tired aswhen you went to bed. You drag yourself out of bed and realise you havereally sore boobs.

Then you look in the mirror and you have a new zit on your chin. What agreat way to start the day. You may even have some pimples on your back,which are really annoying and hurt.

You have your shower to get ready for work and you feel like crying, butyou’re not sure why. Then you go to get dressed, but everything you tryon seems a bit tight. You can’t even get your rings on your fingers becauseyou’re so bloated.

This goes on for a few days and then you start getting your cramps. Reallypainful cramps and you dread what’s coming next. That’s right you aregetting your period!

You hope that this is a good one and not a really bad one like last monthbut you never really know.

And then it starts and it’s heavy. It’s so painful that you can’t really leavethe house. In fact, you end up hugging the couch for the next couple ofdays because you are in so much pain, and you are bleeding so heavily. Allyou want to do is cry and want this hell to be over. You wish you had someeasy answers, but you’re just not sure where to turn ...

And the worst of it is that you know that all of this will be repeated in just afew short weeks, again and again. You can’t even have a normal life becauseyou are too tired, you can burst into tears for no real reason, you don’t haveany energy, and you’ve lost your enthusiasm for life. You don’t know what’sreally wrong with you and you can’t really plan ahead because you neverknow when you’re going to get your period and whether you’ll end uphouse-bound for a few days, again. Or you can risk going out and having areally embarrassing accident. Life becomes filled with uncertainty.

What a way to live your life!

Well, if you think I’m exaggerating, I’m not! I’ve been there and sometimesit was even worse!

7

Chapter 1: What is Hormone Hell?

One of the greatest difficulties is actually planning anything and thenbeing able to keep to your commitments. This becomes a real challenge asyou never know when you’re going to get your period and whether you’llbe able to keep the commitment or event. You could even start feeling likeyou are always letting other people down.

A number of years ago I had booked into a three day convention that Iwas really looking forward to. There were many exciting and informativespeakers at the event and there were fun social functions that were part ofthe whole event. Also, it was even more special as my younger daughterwas attending the event with me.

On the first day of the convention, my period started. “ Great”, now thewhole event became a challenge for me to get through somehow andhopefully not have any really embarrassing moments. For some reason, Iusually felt a lot of fatigue at the start, so my first challenge was finding aseat when we had to line up and wait to get in. I was hoping that our seatsduring the event would be at a convenient distance from the bathroom,because I knew that I would have to visit it every hour at least. I was takinga herbal mixture to help me with the pain and cramping and was hopingthat I wouldn’t be too uncomfortable and would be able to stay. Everychance I had, I would try to rest. I wondered what others thought over thethree days as I visited the bathroom so frequently. Instead of networkingand mixing socially in between sessions, all I could do was rest. Mydaughter was wonderful and brought me snacks at the tea breaks.

On the final day we had a formal dinner event. To be able to attend this,I had to go home and rest for the afternoon and then return. I felt like aNanna. The positive part in the end was that I was able to complete theconvention. I thought that it was sad, that I felt like celebrating just foractually making it through the three days rather than having to stay homeand miss out. It felt like I had run a marathon!

At least I didn’t have any embarrassing moments this time. A friend of minetold me about a time she was attending a similar event and one minuteeverything was fine and then the next, she just started flooding. There wasnothing she could do. She just waited for the break and for everyone toleave the room and then had someone help her, as she was sitting in a poolof blood. How horrible that would have been. How embarrassed wouldyou feel?

8



I had a similar embarrassing moment when on a six week trip aroundEurope with my younger daughter. We started off our trip with a grouptour going to Spain, Morocco and Portugal. Everything was going welluntil we got to Seville in Spain. We were on our walking tour around theback streets of Seville when I had my own most embarrassing moment.What made it even more challenging was that in Europe it’s not alwayseasy to find a public bathroom. I had to quickly put my jacket around meand then find a restaurant. I didn’t really see anything else of Seville afterthat, as I went back to the hotel that we were staying in and spent the nexttwo days in the room, before I was well enough to leave for the next stopon our tour.

I’m sure that there will be other women who can relate to these stories andsome or all of these symptoms. For most of you it’s probably not as bad asthis but for some women it may be even worse.

The most important thing I want you to know is that it doesn’t have to belike that. There are solutions, and some of them are very simple things youcan do that will turn your health and life around and guide you towardsHormone Heaven!

In this chapter I am covering the symptoms and causes of hormonalimbalances in some detail. I want to give you a good idea of what theactual problems are before we move on to look at the solutions.

I believe it’s a good idea to define the problem as accurately as possible sowe can then be clear about our options and solutions.

What are hormones?Hormones exert a powerful influence over many aspects of our growthand development, sexual and reproductive capability, our behaviour andintelligence, our energy, our memory and over every part of our lives.

Hormones are super-chemicals and are the body’s messengers. Hormonesare produced for example, by your endocrine glands, your pituitary gland,pineal gland, adrenal glands, ovaries, testes and thyroid. All of theseorgans are directly commanded by the brain. When the hormones aretotally in balance within the body, the body is in the state of“ homeostasis”.Hormonal balance is very sensitive and when even one hormone issuddenly increased or reduced, there is a chain effect on all of the otherhormones throughout the body.

9


Oestrogen and progesterone are two primary female sex hormones.When both are functioning properly, they work well together. However,when they are out of balance, as they are for many women, this can causereproductive health issues mainly due to too much oestrogen.

Oestrogen is the most powerful female hormone; it is essential forreproductive function and plays a key role in determining a woman’soverall health. Oestrogen is primarily produced by the ovaries. Oestrogenis a term used to collectively describe oestradiol, oestrone and oestriol andan imbalance of any of these three alters the activity of oestrogen.

Progesterone is the building block for many major hormones: cortisol,testosterone and oestrogen that are all made from it. It is the secondaryfemale steroid hormone and balances the family of oestrogens.Progesterone has the capacity to be turned into other hormones furtherdown the biological pathways when the body needs them. Oestrogen andtestosterone are end-metabolic products that are made from progesterone,so if adequate progesterone is not present than there will not be enoughavailable oestrogen and testosterone.

One major difference is that oestrogen stimulates cell growth whileprogesterone inhibits cell growth. You may be surprised to learn that thereare oestrogen receptors in most body tissues, including the brain, bonesand skin. The uterus, urinary tract, breasts and blood vessels also dependon oestrogen to stay toned and flexible.

What is a hormonal imbalance?A hormonal imbalance occurs when the balance of the individualhormones, especially oestrogen and progesterone, is disturbed. The mostcommon imbalance is that associated with excess oestrogen in relation tothe amount of progesterone. Progesterone, which is made at ovulation,normally balances oestrogen’s growth effects, in a critical ratio. Whenovulation ceases, progesterone production ceases.

Recent scientific research now reveals that pre-menopause and menopausehormonal imbalance symptoms are caused by a relative excess of oestrogenand a deficiency of progesterone.

Ovulation ceases when women’s egg numbers are exhausted in pre-menopause, or when women use the oral contraceptive pill. The resultis that progesterone levels plummet, but oestrogen levels remain high;

10



therefore the critical ratio is destroyed and oestrogen dominance occurs.Over a longer time this condition can lead to obesity, diabetes, heartdisease and breast cancer.

What is oestrogen dominance?Oestrogen dominance, is a term that was coined by the late Dr John Lee, anexpert in the use of natural progesterone from Harvard and the Universityof Minnesota Medical School. It describes the condition in which a womancan have deficient, normal or excessive oestrogen hormones but little or noprogesterone hormone to balance its effect in the body. As a result she hasmore oestrogen in her body relative to progesterone, which produces thesymptoms associated with the term“ oestrogen dominance”.

Dr Lee, was an international authority and pioneer, with a distinguishedmedical career, in the use of natural progesterone and natural hormonebalance. He was a sought-after speaker, as well as a best-selling authorand the editor-in-chief of a widely read newsletter. He was the author ofseveral best-selling books including What Your Doctor May NotTell you aboutPremenopause and also What Your Doctor May Not Tell you about Menopause.

Oestrogen dominance can also be the result of being exposed to too muchoestrogen in the environment or environmental chemicals that cause awoman’s body to produce more oestrogen. In addition, it can be a result ofperi-menopausal menstrual cycles, when no egg is released and thereforeno progesterone is produced, which again causes excess oestrogen. It canalso be a combination of both these circumstances. There are also manyother causes that can contribute towards oestrogen dominance, which wewill discuss soon.

As I began my research into hormonal imbalance I discovered that amajority of women actually suffer from these symptoms. In fact, researchsuggests that as many as 75 percent of menstruating women have somepremenstrual syndrome symptoms.

That’s certainly a lot of women all being affected by hormonal imbalancesof some sort.

Who does oestrogen dominance effect?Oestrogen dominance can affect women of all ages. It can affect younggirls who are stressed, young women on the pill and women going throughpre-menopause. This is because, in each of these scenarios, ovulation willoccur either intermittently or not at all. If ovulation does not occur, then

11


progesterone is not produced although oestrogen is still being producedbecause the women are still experiencing periods.

Women going through menopause are also affected by oestrogendominance. As they are no longer producing eggs and ovulation hasceased, they are therefore, not producing enough progesterone.

Young women on the pill, or suffering from excess stress, may haveseemingly normal periods but without ovulation. They might tend to sufferfrom PMS symptoms such as: swollen tender breasts, weight gain, moodswings, headaches and cramps.

Period s m ean oestrogen; ovulation m eans progesterone.

Period s d on’t necessarily m ean ovulation therefore

period s d on’t necessarily m ean progesterone.

What are the symptoms of oestrogen dominance?Here is a list of symptoms that are caused or made worse by an imbalanceof your hormones and are mainly attributed to having too much oestrogen.

• PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome)• Bloating• Mood swings• Depression• Fatigue• Loss of libido• Heavy or irregular menstrual periods• Uterine fibroids• Weight gain, especially around the abdomen, hips and thighs• Acne• Memory loss• Migraines• Tender or lumpy breasts• Fibrocystic breasts• Autoimmune disorders such as lupus erythematosus and thyroiditis• Thyroid dysfunction with cold hands and feet• Endometrial (Uterine cancer)• Foggy thinking• Infertility

12



• Irritability• Osteoporosis• Polycystic ovaries• Sluggish metabolism• Acceleration of the aging process• Allergy symptoms, including asthma, hives, rashes, sinus congestion• Breast cancer• Cervical dysplasia• Dry eyes• Early onset of menstruation• Gallbladder disease• Hair loss• Headaches• Hypoglycaemia• Increased blood clotting (increasing risk of strokes)• Insomnia• Magnesium deficiency• Premenopausal bone loss• Prostate cancer• Thyroid dysfunction mimicking hypothyroidism• Zinc deficiency

Note: The above list of symptoms is adapted from Dr John Lee’s book “WhatYour Doctor May NOT Tell You About Premenopause.”

As you can see from the above list, there is an amazing number ofsymptoms and illnesses that can be attributed to the condition of oestrogendominance.

How many of these symptoms can you relate to?

What are the possible causes of oestrogen dominance?Although I have already mentioned a few possible causes of oestrogendominance, there are many others. They can include a combination ofexternal and environmental factors as well as causes that are internal tothe body.

13


The following list gives you an idea of the major contributors towardsoestrogen dominance:

• HRT – which contains Premarin and other oestrogens• Birth control pills, injections and implants all contain oestrogen• Fertility drugs – contain oestrogen• Anovulatory cycles – not making any progesterone each month• Exposure to environmental hormone disruptors – chemicals,

herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, PCB’s, etc.• Hysterectomy – which can lead to ovarian dysfunction• Overeating – especially sugar and refined carbohydrates, which

increase oestrogen levels• Stress – high cortisol levels deplete progesterone levels• Sugar – high insulin levels increase oestrogen levels• Candida – makes oestrogen and feeds on oestrogen• Faulty liver metabolism interferes with metabolising oestrogen

safely out of the body• Poor digestion and lack of healthy gut flora, which is necessary to

properly metabolise oestrogen• Commercial personal care products, fragrances, nail polish and dry

cleaning – all of which contain xenoestrogens• Exposure to xenoestrogens in industrial chemicals (from paints to

detergents) and also phthalates from plastics• Meat and poultry that has had oestrogen and growth hormones

added• Alcohol consumption can raise oestrogen levels• Our own body fat can increase steroid levels and produce a store

of oestrogen, therefore overweight people have more oestrogen intheir bodies.

As you can see from this list, the contributors to excess oestrogen are allaround us and are accepted as a normal part of our environment. I’msure that you never imagined that a lot of the items on the list could becontributing to your hormonal imbalances.

In case you’re not sure what xenoestrogens are, these are covered in moredetail in Chapter 3.

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What solutions do doctors normally recommend?Interestingly, based on the research that I have done in this area, I havelearnt that many doctors actually prescribe synthetic hormones in the formof the contraceptive pill or HRT to alleviate the symptoms of oestrogendominance. Instead of balancing the excess oestrogen with naturalprogesterone, they are prescribing more oestrogen and so are making thesituation worse. The synthetic hormones are masking the symptoms ratherthan healing the underlying problems.

In his book Unlock Your Hormones, author Dr Graeme Williams, who isa medical doctor and leading expert in hormone imbalances, says, “ theincreased oestrogen being given in HRT not only increases the symptomsand risks of oestrogen dominance, it provides the greatest source of globalxenoestrogens, which pollute our world’s waterways to cause infertility,genital deformities and acceleration of oestrogen-related breast andprostate cancer”.

So, if menopause is not an oestrogen deficiency condition and womenare suffering from the symptoms of oestrogen dominance, why then arewomen being given oestrogen in the form of HRT? I think that this is aninteresting question to ask!

There is also emerging evidence that suggests that “ the Pill” is a majorhealth threat and is linked to the rising breast cancer rates in youngwomen. Research indicates that long-term Pill users are at a higher risk ofbreast cancer as oestrogen initiates tissue growth and cell proliferation inspecific areas in the body, which can be detrimental to a woman’s health.

Years ago a Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study established a linkbetween HRT and increased breast cancer rates. The WHI was a populationstudy of 161,808 healthy post-menopausal women. HRT use dropped by40 per cent between 2001 and 2003 in Australia, due to the concerns raisedfrom this study. You may even remember when this study was released asit was reported in the media and caused quite a bit of fear, confusion andoutrage. Friends of mine who were on HRT at the time became fearful andweren’t sure what to do. Nevertheless, many pharmaceutical companiesstill continue to downplay this evidence.

15


“T he m ainstream m ed ical com m unity has

flip-flopped on horm one replacem ent over the last five

d ecad es. It’s good for you; it’s bad for you. It’s no

w ond er w om en are confused.”

D r Christiane N orthrup

Dr Graeme Williams is a full-time life-enhancement physician, specialisingin menopause, andropause, oestrogen disorders, and male and femalehormone modulation. He is an acclaimed author, professional speaker,clinician and researcher, and is one of the leading authorities on menopause,andropause and hormone imbalance. Based on his qualifications andexperience, he is very knowledgeable in this area, and I believe that hisadvice would be worth considering.

Dr Williams says that doctors receive much of their ongoing educationafter finishing university from the drug companies. He says that because ofthis,“ Unfortunately, most doctors don’t know the difference between‘real’progesterone, the exact human molecule designed by nature to fit exactlyinto our progesterone receptor, and the completely different-shaped,unnatural, synthetic, (and oh yes, patented) progesterone-like molecule,called a progestin or a progestagen, marketed by drug companies”.

Doctors I have spoken to have confirmed that Dr William’s commentsare accurate, that most of the ongoing education they receive is from therepresentatives of the pharmaceutical companies. So they are actuallybeing told which drugs should be prescribed for particular symptoms.

In my own experience, at different times in my life when I visited doctorswith my own symptoms, I was prescribed the contraceptive pill for theproblems with my periods, antibiotics for the acne I had and surgery formy fibroids and heavy periods. This is covered in more detail in the nextchapter.

The surgery that doctors usually recommend for heavy bleeding andfibroids is either an endometrial ablation or a hysterectomy. Sometimesthey recommend removing the fibroids, but, as this is a tricky operation,it is only able to be performed by specialist surgeons. Doctors will usuallyrecommend the endometrial ablation or hysterectomy as there are noguarantees that the operation of just removing the fibroids will actually stop

16



the heavy bleeding. These were the two options that were recommendedto me.

While most fibroids don’t cause any symptoms, they can grow and causeheavy and painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse, and urinaryfrequency and urgency. Uterine fibroids are the major indication forhysterectomy in the US.[1] For many women the uterus can often havemultiple fibroids.

About 20-40 percent of women will be diagnosedwith uterine fibroids.

(Reference: a b c Wallach EE, Vlahos NF. “Uterine myomas: an overview of development,clinical features, and management”. Obstet Gynecol 104 (2004), pp. 393– 406.)

Here are some facts about hysterectomies in the US. I expect that theAustralian figures would be similar.

• It has been estimated that up to 20 to 30 percent of women ofreproductive age have fibroids, though not all have been diagnosed.

• Between 200,000 and 300,000 hysterectomies that are performedevery year are for symptomatic uterine fibroids.

(The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2006.)

• Fibroids are the number one reason for hysterectomies in the US(The National Women’s Health Information Center, CDC)

Based on these figures, that is certainly a lot of hysterectomies that arebeing performed every year for a problem that can be solved more simplyand naturally and that could have been recommended for many of thesecases.

Just in case you’re not sure, an endometrial ablation is the actualdestruction of the lining of the uterus (endometrium) with a laser orby cauterisation. A hysteroscope (a hysteroscope is a small pencil-sizedinstrument that is inserted into the cervix through which the inner cavityof the uterus can be seen) is inserted through the vagina and cervix andinto the uterus to perform the operation. The patient is also required totake a course of pharmaceutical drugs to prepare the uterus prior to havingthe endometrial ablation. Once a woman has undergone this surgery, shecan no longer fall pregnant and have children.

17


A hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus, although removal of the uterus,fallopian tubes and ovaries is also generally known as a hysterectomy.

According to Dr John Lee,“ removing a woman’s uterus is very, very good forbusiness”. He says this because removal of the uterus is a very costly majorsurgery, with a long recovery time. This would require regular visits to yourdoctor to renew your HRT prescription, which provides the doctor and thedrug companies with a long-term repeat customer. It is also possible thatyou might contract disease from the unopposed oestrogen leading to evenmore checkups. If, on the other hand, you used more natural methods, youwould only need to visit the doctor occasionally for a checkup and wouldnot require any prescriptions.

While for some women these surgeries may be the best solution, I wouldsuggest that, if at all possible, they be considered only as a last resort, asthey are drastic and irreversible. Remember, once you have undergonethese surgeries you will no longer be able to bear children, which may besomething of importance to you.

In my case, I researched all my options and chose the more natural pathand was able to heal my hormonal symptoms using the natural methods,outlined in this book. I didn’t have either of these types of surgeries.

Women of almost any age can suffer from the symptoms of oestrogendominance. As it has been explained earlier the Pill and HRT are bothversions of synthetic hormones and increase the amount of oestrogen in awoman’s body. In fact, the Pill has far more synthetic oestrogen in it thanHRT has.

For example, Dr Graeme Williams in his book, Unlock Your Hormones saysthat he finds it interesting that the symptoms suffered by young women onthe Pill are the same as those suffered by older women entering menopause,namely weight gain, irritability, PMS, breast tenderness, mood swings andheadaches. Neither is releasing eggs, neither are making progesterone, butboth are making oestrogen; in fact, the young woman on the pill is actuallyingesting even more oestrogen than that in conventional HRT medication,yet has ‘menopausal symptoms’.

18



Am azingly, w om en tak ing H R T consum e 3350 tim es

m ore active estrad iol per d ay, than that norm ally m ad e

each day by w om en.

T hose on the pill, consum e 16,500 tim es m ore active

estrad iol than their bod y w ould naturally m ak e in one

day! (Pugh and M oore)

D r G raem e W illiam s,U nlock Your H orm ones

As mentioned above, oestrogen dominance can also lead to breast cancer.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report Cancer IncidenceProjections, Australia 2002 to 2011 has recently predicted a 31% rise in newcancer cases over the next decade, with a dramatic jump in hormone-related cancers of the breast and prostate.

• Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer among Australianwomen.

• The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australiaincreased from 5,370 in 1983 to 12,126 in 2004.

(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Cancer in Australia: an overview, 2008)(December 2008)

Hopefully, you now have a good picture of what may be affecting yourhealth and causing your hormonal imbalance symptoms and that you areable to identify with at least some of these symptoms. You may also havevisited doctors and been offered the solutions that I have mentioned, oryou may have been offered more natural alternatives.

In the next chapter, I will describe my experiences on my journey FromHormone Hell to Hormone Heaven.

Throughout the book I provide action steps for you, as it’s only throughtaking action that you will change your health and your life. I know thatsometimes this might seem a little overwhelming, especially if you are notfeeling well. However, you only need to implement the steps, at a pace thatis suitable for you. I want you to remember to always be kind to yourself.By implementing the changes that I suggest throughout the book, you willbegin living your life in a way that is kinder to yourself in all areas.

19


E verything is about tak ing the right

action to m ove you forw ard !

The best way to move forward is by first assessing where you are now andthen having a vision of where you want to get to. By taking stock of yourstarting point, you will be able to gauge your improvement along the wayand will undoubtedly begin realising how far you have come in a shorttime. If you don’t take a record of how you are feeling at the start of yourjourney, once you begin the healing process, you may not remember whatit was like, as we mainly notice our present circumstances and can easilyforget our past.

For example: see if you can remember what you ate last week and howyou felt? I bet that if you haven’t written it down, you’ll have difficultyremembering and that’s only a week ago.

I know from my own experience, that once you have healed somethingfrom your past, especially an emotional trauma, it’s difficult to evenremember that you had the problem.

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Hormone Heaven Steps

1. The first thing I would like to recommend is thatyou buy yourself a journal. Something that isspecial to you, so that you can record your own journey.Make it meaningful, so that you will treasure it and lookforward to writing in it, as it will become really importantto you in the future.

2. When you have purchased your journal, write down howyou feel now. Write down all of your physical symptomsand all of the emotions that you are currently experiencing.As I said, it’s a great idea to record your starting point, soyou have a good picture of your before status.

I especially recommend that you list the symptoms from theoestrogen dominance list that you can relate to, and arecurrently experiencing or have experienced in the past.

This will provide you with your own picture of your own Hormone Helland, as I said, as you move forward with the information in this book, youwill then know where you have come from.

From Hormone Hellto Hormone HeavenIn the book you’ll discover:

The secrets to balancing your hormones naturally andholistically

How to make PMS, mood swings and tiredness a thing ofthe past

Natural remedies for monthly challenges such asbloating and cramping

How your lifestyle and stress affects your hormonesand how you can address them

ü Simple nutritional changes that could really make adifference

How to regain your libido naturally

ü Some secrets that your doctor doesn’t want you to know

And lots more …

Are you in control of your hormones or are yourhormones in control of you?

Do you suffer from any or a combination of the following symptoms?PMS ● Bloating ● Mood swings ● Depression ● Loss of libido ● Memory loss ● Fatigue ● Migraines ●

Heavy or irregular periods ● Tender or lumpy breasts ● Fibrocystic breasts ● Fibroids ●

Weight gain ● Acne ● Hot flushes or a combination of these symptoms

If so … then you might be suffering from a HormonalImbalance and you may be living in Hormone Hell!

Inspirational and life changing… every page bursts with wisdom,

hope and practical step-by-step strategiesfor overcoming hormonal imbalancesymptoms.

Catherine Gouma,Naturopath/Homoeopath


is a practical guide for women to restore healthy

and harmony naturally by someone who has

been on the journey to hell and back!

For more information go to:


Buy Now

Buy Now

http://www.hormonehelltohormoneheaven.com/order_book.html

http://www.hormonehelltohormoneheaven.com/order_book.html

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Hormone Heaven Bonus Chapter · naturally. It is truly a must-read for all women.” Tracey Stranger Author of How To Overcome Stress Naturally “This is a book all women should