Location: Austin, Texas

Your Question: Hello Dr. Roby,

I’ve always been a pretty active person (i’ve run half marathons and a marathon) and this past November, 2009, I started what I believe is excercise-induced urticaria (cholinergic urticaria). It usually occurs after I’ve done some type of cardio or if I’m out and there’s a sudden change in temperature. I have had 5 occurences that vary from a blister on the mouth to full blown swollen lips, hives and tenderness upon swallowing. I consulted a couple friends who were in med residencies as well as pharmacy residencies and they told me to start taking a Claritin daily for prophylaxis. I try to do it everyday or at least days when I know I’ll be going to the gym. For the most part, everything’s been better. Today, I forgot to take it in the morning but brought the medicine with me to the gym and took it right before getting on the treadmill. I guess I didn’t give it enough time because my lip is swollen and throat is tender again…no hives this time. Is there anything else I can do?

J.

Dear J.:

I think this is caused by a hormone imbalance. Read my section on “hormone imbalance” on the web site. I suspect there is a hormone imbalance or a hormone allergy that makes you put out adrenalin when your system is stressed.

Women who have this are often highly competitive athletes (or business professionals). They usually have other hormone issues such as PMS or unusual periods. Usually these symptoms will be exacerbated around the period.

Read that and then let me know what other clues you have to offer.

This is usually addressed by identifying the causative hormones and blocking the adrenalin reaction with hormone blocking drops.

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

location: TX

I recently started my testosterone supplementation on August 26, 2010 and am planning to take my follow up labs sometime next week as well as hopefully see you in San Antonio. According to my lab results my total testosterone was significantly low, I am continuing to take an SSRI (Lexapro) could that have possibly contributed to lowering my testosterone?

Yes.

Also, I am concerned that through the continued use of testosterone supplementation I would lose my bodies natural mechanism to produce testosterone, is that a possibility?

Not likely. You would have to take a very large amount for that to happen. We do see lowering lab values when we give you too much testosterone. Often a lower dose gets a better effect.

We counter that by giving you testosterone blocking drops. This allows your free testosterone to go up without increasing the amount of testosterone you use.

Would short term use, say less than one year and then stopped, result in the aforementioned scenario? Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions and putting my conscious at ease. Good luck with your knee surgery.

Hello, I have had IC for about 4 1/2 years. I was officially diagnosed in 2009 via bladder biopsy. I notice my symptoms increase before and during my period. I also notice my symptoms increase when something is going on in my stomach such as gastritis or diarrhea. I reside in California. I’m a 24 year old female. What can I do about this?

Thank You,

E.

Dear Ms. E

For symptoms IC that occur before your period I suggest ProCALM Drops to block this hormone allergy to progesterone. If your symptoms continue or get worse during your period I suggest EstCALM Drops. In your case where you have both we would send a combination of ProCALM combined with EstCALM.

If this relieves your symptoms I would suggest you get lab work done to explore the possibility of hormone imbalance. The estradiol is often remarkably low, although “within the normal limits”.

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

Dr. Roby:

I have Interstitial Cystitis and I am a breast cancer survivor. My cancer was estrogen dependent. Does this affect the chances of my having hormone therapy?

Regards,

AB

Dear AB

It does limit your options. You cannot add any hormones, particularly estrogen which is sort of the root of the problem. But, you can block the progesterone which is the immediate cause of the IC pain. Order the ProCALM Drops. Read my book and pay close attention to the sections on diet and movement.

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

Your Question: I was diagnosed with the Hashimoto’s disease in January and have been put on Synthroid. I am now up to 75 mg. and see no change in my body’s response to the medication. My joints ache and my muscles are sore, fatigued most of the time. I have to make myself get going, especially in the morning. Is this something that you deal with? I have also been diagnosed with Sleep apnea. I just want to get back to feeling normal again. I am 44 and have two sons ages 19 and 16 and a wonderful husband who is patiently trying to encourage me to lose weight but it is not working. My sister-in-law has a friend that has seen you and she talked highly of you and sent me the link to your website.
Thanks!
D.

We can help you with the Hashimoto’s in a hurry. Hashimoto’s patients make antibodies to their own thyroid. We will desensitize you to those antibodies using blocking drops of thyroid. You should feel a difference within 60 days and see significant increases in your blood levels, on the same dose, within that same time frame.

Come and see us. Call 800-842-6349 for an appointment.

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

I am pretty certain I have an allergy to progesterone. I started with mild dermatitis in my ears at age 16, and it became severe at age 18 immediately after going on the pill. No doctor ever connected the two, and I suffered from severe dermatitis (possible psoriasis) for 12 years until going off the pill, when it immediately subsided. I’ve been pregnant twice this year and have had two miscarriages. The dermatitis got bad with both pregnancies again. I am now seeing a reproductive immunologist, but want to be tested for an allergy to progesterone specifically, and hopefully treated. I am 31 years old and otherwise in perfect health. Thank you

You can get blood studies to determine hormone allergy from Immunosciences in Los Angeles. Contact Dr. Vojdani, the director and tell him I want to include you in a study. In the meantime order my book from Amazon.com or download it into your Amazon Kindle. See the sections on progesterone dermatitis and hormone allergy to progesterone that causes miscarriages. Dr. Alan Beer wrote “Is Your Body Baby Friendly?”

He and I are two of the very few who deal with “hormone allergy”. He treated miscarriage infertility by blocking the progesterone reaction. That is what we do as well. Order my ProCALM Drops. Call me when they arrive and I will help you find the right dose from the three vials we send you. You can reach me at 800-842-6349.

Warm regards,

Hi Dr. Roby, It is MVS here. I spoke to you several weeks ago about progesterone drops (ProCALM Drops). They are helping with the pain but I was wondering what kind of tests I can be doing to see how out of balance my hormones are. I am suffering from a lot of hormone imbalance symptoms. Sometimes it almost feels as though I am going to have a heart attack. Please email me any suggestions and perhaps I can be treated by you from Idaho. Thanks. MVS

In my blogs of the last few days I have outlined how we treat your underlying problem. Go to my home page at www.robyinstitute and check those blogs to see where you can get the blood work done at the best price (under $200.00). We need to see your levels of estradiol, testosterone (free and total), progesterone and DHEA. If you have any kind of health insurance it will pay for the lab work. Once you have those values I can advise you as to which bioidentical hormones will be helpful in correcting the underlying cause of the problem…hormone imbalance and hormone allergy.

Read the book so you can determine which foods might aggravate your condition. See the interstitial cystitis diet outlined there in “foods to avoid”. And, the most important advice I can give you…do the LSD Movement for one hour every night of your life before you retire to sleep. The “heart attack” and anxiety and panic attacks are caused by adrenalin…which is caused by the hormone imbalance. The ONLY way to get rid of this adrenalin is long, slow distance movement (walking slowly, say no more than 3 miles per hour). This needs to be done for at least 30 minutes, in the evening, best just before bed. One hour is even better. Try it; you will get so addicted to this type of movement. It allows you to get deeply asleep and REST.

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

Dear Dr. Roby,
My name is Y., I’m 33 years old. I live in Colorado. I’ve been diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis a few years ago. I’ve been looking for answers that would help to help with the condition ever since. I came across your website. I understood that there can be two ways hormones can influence this condition: imbalance and allergy to hormones. This morning I have ordered your progesterone drops. I’m very excited! But in addition I would also very much want to check my hormone balance because I think I do have some other symptoms of hormonal imbalance (such as low sex drive, mood swings, very low cold resistance). Therefore, I wanted to ask you for a favor. Would it be possible for me to order the Roby Institute Female Series Option A from Health Check USA (the $195 test) and have you take a look at the results? If the results come back abnormal I would consider flying over to TX and becoming your patient. But if results come back within the norm than I’ll just for now go with your progesterone drops and see how it goes. I’ve never had my hormones checked in my life. I have no health insurance, so going with any other lab would be much more expensive. I would very much appreciate your help and advice.
Regards,
YR
Dear YR:
I think that is a great idea. That Health Check rate is the lowest I have seen and is available nationwide. You may be surprised to see all your hormone levels “within the range of normal”. However, that needn’t discourage you from trying to achieve higher levels of normal. The most frequent problem is very low, “normal”, levels of estradiol. Yours will probably be somewhere under 20. Your doctor says that is “normal” because the reference range provided by the laboratory states that normal, for all age women, is 6 to 450. If you are 20 now and you were 350 at 16, you are still with the “range” of normal.

But, don’t you think you felt better when you were higher in the range of normal. Most of us do.

We will go over the levels when you get that completed. I see you ordered the ProCALM Drops. Call me at 800-842-6349 when they arrive and I will guide you through the three vials until we find the best dose and range for you. Order my book from Amazon or download it directly to your Amazon Kindle. Study everything about IC. Pay particular attention to the diet guidelines and the LSD Movement (long, slow distance).

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

OK, first question, do I use the ProCALM Drops I got at my first appointment after I get the other ones on Monday? Second question, can I use olive oil as a “lotion”? My grandma says it is good for your skin but I just wanted to make sure. My mom wants to know if I introduce the food one day at a time after the five days are up. Oh, and my skin is already like, 99% better than it used to be. I have never felt this great!

Why do you think Yankees are nimrods? Ha-ha, I’ve been reading your book
M.D.

Dear MD:

MD is a twelve year old young lady who has had severe eczema “all her life”. She is very bright and is most serious about restricting her diet and bgeginning on Pro/EstCALM drops as well as airborne allergy drops. I respond to her questions: On Friday you pick three or four foods you miss the most and try them. Only use the drops you got most recently. Set the first ones aside, you may need them later. No live oil for now. First we want your skin to heal. Then you can tolerate lots of stuff, maybe even olive oil.

I suggested the Yankees were “nimrods” (I don’t like Yankees generally, as I think of New Yorkers who I find to be loud and rude) because they are famous for “sound shooting”. They go buy a deer rifle and fly to South Texas to hunt, for the first time in their lives. There they sit around a campfire deep in brush country. They sit around the fire and drink beer and hold fully loaded high power rifles. Somewhere out in the dark a twig cracks and all six of them jump up and fire several shots in the direction of the “sound”. Thus the term “sound shooting”.

Ranchers claim more pick-up trucks have been shot and killed in this manner than from all other causes combined. A “nimrod” is an inexperienced hunter our outdoorsman. I think.

Congratulations on your “99%” improvement. You are going to do so well and you have only been doing this for two days!!!

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Your Question: I am in the process of desperately trying to find relief from my IC pain. The pain is severe. It has affected my relationship with my fiancé, my relationship with my 3 year old daughter, my job and school. I feel like I am always in such pain that it has changed who I am. I can’t wear the same clothes, eat the same foods, exercise, etc. I am desperate! I work at a Medical research facility in St. Louis, Missouri. My urologist has given me hydroxazine and Elmiron. I hate them both and have recently stopped taking them. I can’t function! I work in research myself and firmly believe there HAS to be a cure to this. I also fully believe this is hormone related. For me, my early symptoms started as a teenager. When I was pregnant, my symptoms were 100% gone! After I had my daughter, 6 months later, all hell broke loose. Of course this is hormone related!! I am over here in STL and just found your website. I’m intrigued, to say the least. What advice can you give me from where you are? What do you suggest? I can’t live like this anymore.

Thank you,
M.

Dear Melissa:

How refreshing, a scientist willing to criticize accepted, ineffective dogma! You will enjoy reading my book, Maybe It Is All In Your Head and You Are NOT Crazy! Get the free download of chapter one from we home page. Order the book from Amazon. See the video on my IC section. That young lady was offered surgical removal of her bladder!

Hormones are clearly (clearly to the women who experience this) at the root of the problem. It is most commonly an allergic response to the hormone progesterone (symptoms wore before the period) although sometimes there are symptoms during the period (estrogen allergy). So, you have hormone allergy or progesterone mediated hypersensitivity.

Our best clue here is how you were …”100% clear during pregnancy”….. That’s when your estrogens, particularly estriol were sky high. That covers up the progesterone effect. We mimic that by blocking the hormone allergy (ProCALM Drops) and correcting any hormone imbalance. Blood studies for estradiol, testosterone (free and total), progesterone and DHEA will tell us where the imbalance lies. We correct any imbalance with bioidentical hormones. Most often it is near zero levels of estradiol. If your urologist were to measure your estradiol he would tell you it was …”within normal limits, you are just fine”….. But, normal limits for females is 6 to 450. Yours will be less than 20. It was much higher than these limits when you were pregnant.

Read the book, order the drops and call me when they arrive and I will coach you in how to find the best dose from the three strengths we send. You are going to be just fine. Ninety days max to 80% improvement. The most important thing I will ask you to do is the LSD movement (long, slow distance, one hour, every evening of your life).

Warm regards,

Dr. Roby