What is a CFS specialist? Is it a medical doctor or an alternative medicine practitioner? I have heard of this approach to wellness. Actually checking blood levels of nutrients (proteins, fats, sugars), vitamins, minerals, various enzymes, etc. Then prescribing diet and supplements to create some optimal balance. How the optimum levels are determined, I don't know. It's wonderful that your friend has a better quality of life and no matter the cost, if she is satisfied, that is all that should count. Even though some menopause experiences are horrible, I think we would know when a more serious disease is present. If we are paying attention, I believe our own intuition will tell us. Even though I had severe hot flashes, I knew when I was sick with a fever. Anyone having troublesome symptoms that could be menopause as well as a disease, definitely needs to be evaluated by a doctor to rule out serious conditions before chalking it up to menopause. And I happen to believe that a woman with menopausal symtoms so severe and disabling that they are confused with diseases needs hormonal support. Any person is free to consult a nutritionist, physical trainer, or any other professional in order to figure out what will help them to optimum health. The problem for most of us is following their advice. It is extremely difficult to change a lifetime of eating and exercise habits. People need a strong motivation to continue the initial changes and make more as time goes on. Even people with life threatening illnesses like diabetes and heart disease (which you would think would be a strong motivator) are unable to change the habits that would contribute to a longer and healthier life for themselves. I'm not saying this to discourage people from trying to live a healthier life style. The more a person can do on the side of health the better off they are, even if they can not do it 100% of the time.

The McDonald's lawsuit was hardly frivolous. The woman in question suffered third degree burns. The fact that the burns were on her thighs was fortunate for her. Had they been in her mouth instead, she might have died. McDonald's had had numerous complaints about the excessive temperature of their coffee. Since no one can drink a beverage that's at 180 degrees serving one at that temperature represents reckless disregard for public safety. That's what they were sued for. The woman received only enough money to pay her medical bills. The pain and suffering portion of the award was set reduced to almost nothing. The misrepresentations of this case have entered the realm of urban legend. If you're going talk about events it's wise to check the facts and report them accurately. The point about alternative remedies is that by law they may make no claims regarding efficacy and safety so they have nothing to substantiate. The drug didn't "work?" Since there was no implicit promise made that it would "work" and since in this context "work(s)" isn't defined and can't be defined, it's impossible to prove the elements which would provide grounds for a civil suit. There is no way to prove that a manufacturer didn't deliver on its promise when no promise was made. I just realized that the subject I typed in is totally absurd. So I'm going to post this twice. Once here as a response to you, and again under the correct heading menopause without exogenous hormones.

"...kind to offer your flat assurances that you know better than all of us what is best for all of us." In the broadest sense that no drugs is always preferable to drugs when one is discussing drugs that are not necessary to life and limb only, yes. Nowhere in either of your posts in this thread have you even mentioned the grave risks associated with these drugs. You have not mentioned weighing risks vs expected/desired benefits. Instead you suggest that there are (serious and negative) implications that follow from "declining ovarian hormone production." The intact female produces all the estrogen and testosteone required for the non-reproductive body. Progesterone, as the hormone of pregnancy, is not produced because it is no longer required unless one takes exogenous estrogen in which case it is used to counter the extreme carcinogenicity of estrogen. I have my feet sufficiently grounded in reality to know that most women are being pressured to take hormones of some kind after menopause despite the lack of evidence for benefit. They are not warned of the dangers and those who get their drugs from "compounding pharmacies" may well never even see the federally mandated warning that is supposed to be included in all estrogen drug prescriptions. Many women see the word "natural" and assume therefore safe. Compounding pharmacists/pharmacies encourage this belief because it contributes to their bottom line. In this last post you pay lip service to the notion that "absolute minimum" dose is best, but carefully avoid saying that for most women that minimum is none at all. The difference between our approaches is that I make my biases clear upfront. You disguise yours in apparently neutral but actually highly biased language - launguage that is eerily similar to that used by drug companies/compounding pharmacies/mlm scammers and the like to sell their product(s). I wonder if you would post in equally (apparently) neutral fashion, if someone came here asking about the use of street drugs or tobacco.

I also have a 9 year old shihtzu and last weekend she had on sudden paralysis and she couldn't stand up and it took me a few hours to get a hold of a vet , I took her in last Saturday night and the vet said she has something wrong with her spine without doing any exrays , she just concluded that it was spinal and gave her a pain shot and ASPIRIN and another shot for nauseous, well on Sunday she wasn't any better and it appeared to me she was taking a seizure so I called the vet back and was instructed to bring her back in , they gave a shot Of neurontin in pill form and put her on prednisone 5 mg the neurontin is to be given ever 8 hours and the prednisone once a day , I gave her the neurontin for a few days till I seen she's sleeping to much to really be eating anything so I stopped the neurontin and continued giving her the prednisone which through prayers she's doing ok with and of the mornings she still shakes some and she still has a low energy drive , I'm totally suspecting this could be IVVD since that runs in shihtzus and the surgery to fix it is between 3000 and 5000 which isnt affordable , I'm suppose to reduce the prednisone tomorrow at half the dose which I'm totally leery about doing, I just wished they were certain about her spine since to exrays were taken i have been totally devastated over her since last week , she does seem to walk without limping now and she eats good and drinks good , I'm just worried about the prednisone issue 🙏😢💗