Hormones To The Rescue!

July 26, 2009 awellwomansjourney
Tags: Bio-Identical Hormones, Hormone imbalance, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Insomnia

I have just started Hormone Replacement Therapy.  I had my follow up visit with Dr Edgerton 5 days ago. I have to admit, all things considered, I’m not as hormonally whacked as I had thought I’d be. However, there were definitely some imbalances.

Let’s start with the good news. Overall, my body is functioning pretty well-all things considered. My cholesterol is good as is my Homocysteine level hence my risk for heart disease is pretty low right now. I’ll have to watch this as the years go on because there is a really strong family history of heart disease on both sides of my family. Another good level was my fasting blood sugar. Given that 3 of 4 grandparents died with/from complications of diabetes and heart disease, it’s nice to know that I am currently not in iminent danger of these dreaded diseases. And with my low blood pressure I am not at risk of metabolic disease. To further avoid that little bullet, I have to get my weight down and hopefully getting my hormones balanced will help that. My other systems-liver, kidney, etc.. all seem to be functioning well.

So let’s take a look at the things that weren’t so good. My thyroid hormone level is on the low end of normal. No news there. Although I have been taking a supplement, it hasn’t been able to fully replace me to an acceptable level so Dr. Edgerton is prescribing thyroid hormone. The good news is that my pituitary gland sends the proper message to my thyroid to produce the hormone, and my thyroid does produce hormone enough to keep me just within the normal limits. But as far as having functional levels of thyroid hormone, I’m not even close so Dr. Edgerton is prescribing thyroid hormone.

Working our way down, my testosterone level was also borderline. Given that I am not having trouble with my libido yet have been extremely fatigued and with low energy, Dr. Edgerton has opted to replace my DHEA hormone, a precursor to testosterone. This should not only help my testosterone levels, but also my energy levels.

My estrogen levels were okay but my progesterone levels were pretty crappy. Classic case of estrogen dominance. No surprise there given that I just had an endometrial ablation for recurrent uterine fibroids and heavy menstrual bleeding. So I’ll be taking prescription grade bio-identical progesterone.

What did come as a surprise is that my Vitamin D levels were really quite low. I know that there is currently an almost epidemic low of Vitamin D amongst most Americans but given that I take a calcium supplement that contains Vitamin D and a multivitamin with Vitamin D, I thought that I was doing okay. So I’m now taking prescription grade Vitamin D. (I’ll discuss vitamin D and its actions and benefits in the next post!)

Finally, my iron stores were low. Again, so surprise there given that I’ve been having periods from Hell. It’s interesting that my Hemoglobin and Hematocrit levels were normal, so I’m not anemic but heaven help me if I get injured or otherwise hemorrhage.  So I’m starting Ferritin.

Overall there were really no surprises, except for perhaps the Vitamin D. I feel pretty confident that once I start on the hormones I’ll be able to get back to my normal self.

One thing that wasn’t really addressed was my overall anxious feeling. It has just been pervasive and it’s really obnoxious. Since this is a classic symptom of Adrenal Fatigue,  I have to do saliva tests for cortisol. Seems I’m in perpetual “flight or fight” mode & It’s been wreaking havoc with my sleep. Dr. Edgerton has given me some magnesium supplements to help (more about this in another post!), but they are not totally effective as I still wake up early in the morning around 3 or 4 am,  So he is also prescribing melatonin. My husband has been telling me to take this, but I tried some over the counter in the past without any help.  So I’m going to be trying the prescription grade.

Since this is a bio-identical hormone clinic, all of my hormones are compounded for me. They were ordered the day of my appointment and just arrived 2 days ago in the late afternoon. I’ve only been on them one full day, but I can already give kudos to the melatonin. I’ll keep you posted on how the others do and what if any adjustments are needed.

But I do offer this advice: don’t wait as long as I did to get help. So far my sleep is much improved on the Magnesium and Melatonin and that alone is making me feel better. If the other hormones are as effective as quickly, I am sure I’ll be back to my old self in no time.

I’m just sorry I waited so long, mostly hemming and hawing over the costs, to act. Ladies, there is no price one can give to feeling good. Don’t wait as I did. You (and I) deserve to feel good. You’d never let your child or your husband go about feeling poorly indefinitely so why should you?  Have the same respect for yourself and give yourself the same care!

Entry Filed under: The Journey,Treatments and Therapies

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