Have you ever experienced headaches, insomnia, allergies, irregular bleeding, fatigue, a panic attack, depression, irritable bowel, hot flashes, problems concentrating, mood swings? What was your reaction to these symptoms?

Unfortunately, it’s become engrained that when we experience a symptom, we need to have a specific treatment for that symptom. Television and magazine ads tell us that a particular symptom is equivalent to a certain diagnosis and that we should run to our health-care provider and demand a particular treatment.

One ad said: “Are you anxious, do you feel sad, is your zest for life gone? You are depressed! Ask your doctor for xyz medication.” Were we really depressed and did we really need to start taking a pill, a patch, drops, some herbs, tinctures, supplements, or a cream? Or, if we were already taking one of them, did we need to try another kind or double the dose? Do you really need to run to a drugstore, a health food store or to your health-care provider any time you are not feeling well?

In many instances, women “know” when something is not quite right. But women have been told so many times that what they are experiencing is “in their head.” Consequently, they stop listening to their own intuition. Intuition is a way of “knowing before you know.”

Over the years I have cared for many women with many of these symptoms. Often, if they had been taking medication, they wanted a stronger dose because they thought it was no longer working. After questioning them, I would often learn that their life situation was causing stress.

In our modern society, stress can impact us at work or at home, although not usually in the form of a lurking saber-toothed tiger! Stress keeps pumping hormones into the bloodstream until they assault the blood vessels, the heart, the immune system, and the liver. This can produce problems such as high blood pressure, increased susceptibility to illness, viral and bacterial infections, ulcers, headaches, chronic muscular tension, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks, hormonal imbalance, and even cancer. For women, it can also cause menstrual irregularities.

In many instances, women do not realize that many life events, both the positive and the negative, can precipitate stress. Some examples of stressful triggers are: getting married or divorced; bearing children; children moving away from home; changes in partners; a chronic illness (or a partner with one); shifts in financial status; changing or losing a job; the death of a friend or family member; moving, selling, or buying a home; accidents; and environmental stressors, to name a few. Stressful events are a part of reality.

Women are also expected to perform multiple tasks and duties. They often hold a full-time job, and then come home and cook dinner and take care of the household. Women sometimes place themselves in this position; they maintain relationships with partners, relatives, and children who all have needs and expectations. Women may speak up and complain that the husband or the teenager does not help. Why should they? They know that she will complain, and then she will do the task herself! When I ask women why they continue to do so, they don’t know the answer. They feel like they have to, unaware that they are becoming stressed and resentful, which inevitably manifest in physical and mental symptoms.

Your body will tell you when something is not right. Listen to it as you would a friend and become more self-aware of the underlying cause of your symptoms before reaching for medication.

The next time you are experiencing abnormal symptoms, ask yourself the following questions:

Have I been ignoring or denying intuitive messages from my body?

Have I been reaching for a quick fix for symptoms?

What is my body trying to tell me?

Have I been practicing preventive health care to be able to handle normal stress?

Am I under increased stress due to the way I’ve been leading my life?

Is it time to do things differently?

Listening to your intuition can be a great self-protection tool. It can be the lifeline to what’s affecting your body and your good health.

Carolle Jean-Murat, MD is board-certified gynecologist, hormone expert, medical intuitive, perimenopause specialist with over three decades of expertise in women health, director of the Dr. Carolle Wellness & Retreat Center in San Diego. Since 2005 after closing her gynecological practice she offers consultations and one-on-one retreats for women. She now provides free medical care in Haiti and underserved clinics in San Diego and around the world. Her message of self-empowerment to women is delivered through award-winning and best-selling books, multi-city seminars: Is it My Hormones or Something Else: Understand what is happening to my mind, body, and soul and what to do about it, on-line interactive assessments and answers; lectures; TV; tele-conferences, and articles. www.DrCarolle.com and www.HealthThroughCommunications.org

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