As a mature woman who has been through most significant life stages, she knows firsthand what women are struggling with and what they expect. She has been on hormone therapy for decades. While she has advanced professional training in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, it’s her extensive clinical experience over the past 20 years that allows her to effectively treat hormone imbalances. Dr. De Monte has treated thousands of women for hormone conditions. Every woman’s situation is unique, requiring a unique solution that only comes from practice.

My story is a classic tale of chronic Lyme disease. In 2010, I suspected that I had Lyme disease. I contacted Dr. Ernie Murakami, M.D., a retired Lyme doctor in B.C. for his opinion. I told him that in the 70s and 80s I had significant exposure to ticks in North America and Europe while competing in the sport of orienteering, and that I had removed ticks from my skin. In 1980 I got sick with flu-like symptoms that went away after a few weeks, but I thought it was just a virus or from overtraining. Unfortunately, this illness left me with a constant vise-like headache. I was hospitalized and diagnosed with benign intracranial hypertension (increased pressure around the brain). The doctors tried a number of treatments, but nothing worked. I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism (low thyroid) and put on thyroid medication for life. Significant symptoms have been headache, light and noise sensitivity, fatigue, brain fog, memory lapses, mood swings, episodic insomnia, neck stiffness and pain, moving joint aches and night sweats/chills. I just accepted symptoms as part of life. I’ve had two gastrointestinal disorders, one of which required surgery after months of illness and severe weight loss and two surgeries for severe gum recession. I had always attributed these health problems over the years to training, stress, sports, hormone imbalances and aging. Based upon my history and symptoms, Dr. Murakami told me that I fit all the regular criteria for chronic Lyme: started out like a flu, mysterious illness, multiple doctors, misdiagnosed or no diagnosis, symptoms ebb and flow in cycles, and no treatments have ever really helped. He strongly recommended that I get tested. In 2012, I saw my family medical doctor and went through the usual public health testing for Lyme. As expected, the ELISA result came back negative, so I sent blood samples to two U.S. specialty laboratories for comprehensive Lyme testing. The results came back definitive for Lyme disease, a compromised immune system and co-infections. I had been a high functioning person with chronic infection for over 30 years. Unfortunately, in 2014, Lyme disease reared its ugly head as it can often do years or decades after the initial infection. It left me bedridden for many months and suffering with severe rheumatoid arthritis. After three years of this devastating disease, I have experienced significant recovery, not complete but well on its way, slow and constant. My story does not stop there, however,...