Search Results

It's been a little over three weeks since I started tapering off the medications I've been on for the past 18 months. If you're new to my health world, I was on bio-identical hormones for a multitude of health conditions (PCOS, hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue). Quite a few of my major symptoms disappeared or eased while I was on them (joint pain, mood swings, more regular periods, fatigue, and so on), but a few in particular were only making my life worse. Much worse.

My acne (one of the main symptoms I'd originally gone in with) had not only persisted but gotten 100x worse going from moderate to severe. And even though my periods were much more regular, I was still experiencing terrible headaches and cramping several weeks out of the month.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

Progesterone is best known for causing the monthly gift that so many women dread. It peaks suddenly right before that time of the month and causes the uterine lining to be shed. There are other things that progesterone is not as well known for, but are equally important. It inhibits breast tissue overgrowth (meaning less cause for breast cancer), increases metabolism (weight loss), and mobilizes fluid (no more water retention). Progesterone thins the blood (lowering the risk for blood clots), stimulates bone growth (prevents osteoporosis), enhances the thyroid, and so on.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

I met with my bio-identical hormone specialist on Tuesday. They drew blood, so we'll see what physical differences can be seen from my treatment. I've had a lot of success with relief of symptoms (regular periods, acne clearing, less fatigue, more energy, better moods).

I am still on cortisol, progesterone, and several kinds of supplements (one to help me sleep, one to lower my cholesterol/triglycerides, one to raise my vitamin levels). I started out on the thyroid, but had some side effects and went off of it. The plan was to get my other hormone levels stabilized then retry the thyroid.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (1)

It's been eight months since I started the bio-identical hormone treatment. I've seen progress. I've seen some setbacks in my progress. Overall, the last eight months have been interesting, slightly grueling, and very trying on my patience.

Between the supplements and medications that I take, my blood sugars have seen highs and lows. I have no idea how much this process has affected my blood sugars, but I do know that it certainly plays a part. I'm always wondering which supplement raises blood sugars and which lowers. I try to watch for trends, but it's too much to handle when you're taking this many supplements and prescriptions.

Just how many supplements and prescriptions am I supposed to take (I say supposed because I seem to lack discipline in this area)? Well here's my daily list:

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

I spent quite a bit of last week in desperate sadness. My mom would call and I'd want to stay on the phone forever. When we'd hang up, I'd be overwhelmed. My mind raced with doubt of relationships, nostalgia for the past, and a general hatred for what my life was. It was the all too familiar signs of the mood issues I had that started the investigation into the rest of my health.

Back in 2006, I started having what I term "crying spells." Moments of complete hysteria brought on by absolutely nothing. Not the nothing of a stubbed toe or a snippy comment. The nothing of a perfectly fine life. And I'd suddenly be in tears. My overall mood stayed okay, determined by stress and outside forces. But these breaks were out of my own control, out of body experiences.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (6)

There's a lot on my mind lately. Some good, some bad, some neutral. Mostly, it's confusion and decisions. And mostly, it has to do with my health...of course.

I started a new prescription called Spironolactone (or Aldactone) on September 1 to help with the side effects of my PCOS. It's supposed to take about three months to truly see results, but I feel like I'm already seeing some effects. My skin, although still breaking out, is not nearly as bad as it was a few weeks ago. Granted, I'm using tea tree oil and Mederma religiously. So I can't really say if the "Spiro" is helping for sure, but it obviously isn't hurting in that area.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

Weaning off then completely stopping the progesterone has been interesting. I've definitely felt my old symptoms come back, like I mentioned last week. A drop in mood, fatigue, and some of the joint pain are the main issues. But there have also been positive changes.

Like the level of pre-period pelvic pain didn't start the usual two weeks out. Of course, my period could be another two weeks away since they are incredibly irregular. But so far, I've only had maybe 2 days of pelvic pain as opposed to a usual 5-10 days. If I could limit it without progesterone, the endometriosis surgery might completely clear whatever else is causing the pain. We'll have to wait to see about that one though.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

This morning, I went for a second opinion on my current reproductive status. Back in late August, my Well Woman Exam turned into a possible endometriosis diagnosis. So I decided to go for another opinion before pursuing further treatment options.

And I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the doctor. New doctors are always interesting, especially those related to gynecology. But this doctor reinforced the idea that doctors can actually be helpful, understanding, and interested in what you actually feel or need.

So his opinion was that endometriosis is the likely choice as to the causes of some of my reproductive issues. Since I've tried most of the obvious treatment choices (NSAIDs, birth control pills, and pain management), the next step for a woman my age is surgery.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (1)

What a weekend. What a month really. The past few weeks have been non-stop forward movement for me. Every weekend, I'm heading home for doctor's appointments or JDRF Walks or just "family" time. And all through the week, I'm running between classes, errands, friends, and daily happenings. My to do list is insanely long, filled with essays, exams, oil changes, grocery shopping, and cleaning.

Thankfully, my numbers seem to be settling down. I increased the Lantus dose by one unit back on Wednesday. And it worked until about Friday when I started seeing an endless amount of lows. I was stuck in the 60's, no matter what. So today I've lowered it back down to my usual dosage...hoping that I can get higher numbers, but not too high.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

Over the past few months, I've been slowly cutting back on the amount of bio-identical progesterone I was using. I was pretty sure that it was the cause of my sudden, severe acne...when the progesterone doses went up, my acne appeared. Plus I wasn't seeing the kinds of results I wanted or intended to get from it.

Although my periods were more regulated, they were still off by a few days to a week. And they were still incredibly painful, which meant that I was having more pain throughout the year than I'd had before with irregular periods. Opting out of pain seemed the best idea. The main things that I loved about the progesterone were that it balanced out my moods and it took away the headaches, joint, and muscle pain I'd experienced.

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments ()