It's in your gut - literally!

It's been a long time since I have written in my blog. In the meantime, I have been taking tests, waiting on results, then waiting for an appointment to get back into the doctor only to learn what I have known all along - it's my hormones.

The take away is eternally - TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!

From the start I asked my doctors if they thought my hormone levels were off. Both of them denied it would be anything like that. I wanted them to look into it further, as much as anyone could without seeming like the crazy patient who was telling her doctor that her intuition is greater than his experience. After all, I doubted myself after two doctors shook their heads.  We have been brought up to listen to authority and don't question experience. We are taught to be sheep and follow. There is a certain good to following the path that others create. But if something doesn't feel right, why jump off the same bridge your friends are?

But I was right. At least for now, I appear to be onto something.

After being recommended a Holistic Nutritionist here in town and meeting with Dr. B, I had to do a "spit test" to learn of my hormone unbalances. I also went to another doctor to draw blood to review how much time I had left before menopause (plenty of time). This saliva test had me spit (yes, from my mouth) up to a level in a tube. Starting the first day of my cycle and ended sometime after my next one. Interesting that they could pull so much information from saliva. Who would have thought?

The saliva results came back, but apparently I didn't do one right, so they had to pull one of the vials from the set. Then re-ask for the results. Long story short, the results FINALLY came back in and I had to meet with Dr. B again. At my physical age, I didn't think I had a lot of time left to correct what is wrong, so this waiting period was killing me.

After meeting with Dr. B, she announced that we have answers. We can fix it, but now it's up to me to work on the rest. With the other doctors, I never got answers, just adhesive-strip type fixes for what they were guessing was wrong. My OB-GYN had never experienced my multi-miscarriages, so he referred me to an "at risk" specialist who gave me the same progesterone remedies my OB-GYN was prescribing. So, if it doesn't work once, try it again mentality was only wasting my time.

Dr B explained that my hormones were completely off. Hoping I explain and understand it correctly here, my estrogen priming is above normal than crashes quickly - it needs to be more steady. My testosterone doesn't make it high enough when it needs to later on in the cycle. Basically, my hormones cannot sustain a pregnancy. Then with the progesterone I was given from the other doctors, my body is not set up in such a way that it can absorb the hormone, so it kicks it out of my system and can never absorb it. It's as though I'm trying to fill a bucket that has a leak in it in a sense.

Dr. B cautioned that this is not about pregnancy and miscarriages anymore. This is about my risk of cancer skyrocketing when I was menopausal. This is only about 6 years away. Cancer? It seems more people I know have had or are going through cancer. If you're lucky, you make it through - so many people I know are still fighting the battle and will for the rest of their lives.

So now the hard work comes in. It's time to do what I always wanted to, but thought I had time to decide when it would be. Time to buckle down and change up my dietary lifestyle. It's true, what you put into your body is the fuel, along with all the remnants, that your body uses. If you put clean food in, your body can function. If you put GMO type foods, your body will have to alter according to the input. Often, your body rejects and causes issues, sometimes small issues, other times not.

Growing up in the 1970s-1990s, the food was wholesome. I am not a scientist or historian, just guessing these decades of "good" food. We ate real food. Less processed, chemicals, hormones, pesticides, antibiotics remnants of large companies trying to save money and make more profit. Less fast food and more homemade sit-down-at-the-family-table dinner. I know the speed of life has changed, but sadly so has our health. It seems more children are physically growing up faster, cancer is becoming the norm not the exception, and more GMOs are being consumed as we drive from activity to activity, not sitting at a dinner table.

A Personal Journey

But this post is not about my struggle with society and how it has changed, we have changed for some of the better, after all. It's not about large corporation believing that we are guinea pigs. This post is about how I have to change my habits and how my world (and my family's) has been shaken up.

I am now on the path to finding my sources for real food. An organic chicken is least expensive here ... organic produce from there ... clean condiments way across town ... ! The planning, taking time out of my seemingly busy life, to lower my risk of cancer. It's not about pregnancy anymore. It's about saving my life before trying for another child.



The best part is, my friends are coming out to support and assist me in my endeavors. Through discussions with my health-conscious friends, I'm learning where their sources are. When you're starting out to change everything you knew, it's overwhelming. But "a thousand mile journey begins with a single step." I am stepping into realm that is new to me and I am excited to take my health back. I have learned of online healthy food sources, local organic stands, relatives who have grass-fed beef and will sell you half a cow (sounds awful, doesn't it?), and even Costco has organic lettuce!

So onward and upward I travel; through the forest of research and holistic nutrition I hike. My goal is to be hormonally adjusted in 6 months or so. My other goal is to help someone who struggles like I am now sometime in the future. But, just like any endeavor, the hardest part is to start and persevere.