I am writing this blog post today because I feel like it would be great for me to share some parts of my life that have nothing to do with skin care or products or supplements. Even though those things are a big part of my life, it's only a part. My life is really no different than anyone else's. My day to day life, personal, family, business are all a work, or journey in progress. 

Four years ago I lived in Destin Florida, right on the beach. (that is a view from my condo) All I had to do was open my sliding doors and walk out onto my deck, which was on the 16th floor and see the ocean and smell the salty air. Life was so good. I had friends, a great husband, fabulous children and an incredible job. But in the midst of all of that, something was off. 

For those of you that don't know me personally,  just through social media, you may not know that I have been a work out aholic since I was in my 20's. Clearly, what my physical body looked like was very important to me. I set goals, I met my goals. I pushed myself at times to points that I didn't even recognize myself. I did every kind of workout just to prove I could. I ate the cleanest diet anyone could imagine. I juiced almost daily. I was so strict on myself to the point of rigidity. (And I am not suggesting anyone do that at all.  Now days I lean in the direction  of balance, self care and self love!!) 

But in 2015, living in Florida, in the midst of beauty, workouts and clean eating. I was gaining weight, and not just a little weight, I absolutely could not figure it out. I didn't change anything that I had been doing for 15 years and the weight started to pile on. And not only was I gaining weight but I just didn't have the energy I was used to. I found that it was harder for me to stay positive and up beat, and a my libido had almost diminished. After gaining 35-40 lbs, which to put it in size perspective, I went from a 4- 6 to a 12 .I had to buy oversize tops that didn't tuck in, and a lot of draw string pants. In my mind it didn't seem like I was that big, but in pictures I was.

That was so hard for me to wrap my brain around. It's so amazing how I turned on myself, and had such negative things to tell myself. I was really struggling to want to get up and face the sunshine and beach. I won't even talk about the bathing suit part for me at this stage. I am saying all of this and painting this picture to let you know, there really was something wrong. 

Because I never got sick, not even a sniffle. I had not been to a doctor in 15 years. I didn't see the need.(And I am not suggesting anyone do that) But when I hit this time in my life at age 59, and I didn't have any answers, I decided to go.  All of my vitals checked out perfect, so we waited for the blood work to come back. I say, the truth is in the blood!! I scheduled another appointment and set down with the doctor and found out that my thyroid didn't work, I was critically low in Vitamin D, even though I lived in the sunshine state, I had no progesterone or testosterone. And I had a pinch of estrogen. So the combination of these facts explained, the mood, weight gain and low libido. I honestly thought that I would never experience any ot this because of my healthy lifestyle. But I was so wrong. 

As you age, your body begins to stop producing a lot of things that it used to produce in your 20's, and 30.'s.  Hormones are one of those things. For a woman, after you no longer have periods, your body is not producing progesterone,  testosterone, or estrogen. What my body needed was progesterone and testosterone, in order for me to function normally. I was prescribed a sublingual testosterone and progesterone and a prescription of Vitamin D. But the other piece of the puzzle was my thyroid. If your thyroid is not functioning right, your body is not functioning right. The thyroid regulates the body's metabolic rate. So I started on thyroid medicine.

This was all so new to me, because I had never been on medication in my life. I didn't even have drugs when I went through labor and childbirth with 4 children. 

The doctor that I went to in Destin was a general practitioner,  I didn't really even know about Endocrinologist at that time, or Functional medicine doctors.  But because i'ts in my DNA to research everything, I did my homework, and I felt like I had a pretty good idea on what my dosage I should be on, based on all that I had read. And my daughter was on thyroid medicine, and our lives pretty much mirrored each other. 

I was prescribed the lowest dosage you can take of the thyroid medication to start off with. I personally knew it wasn't enough to make a difference. But I couldn't change the doctor's mind and get him to agree to a higher dosage. I actually told him what dosage I thought I should be on and he said, come back in 30 days and if nothing has changed I'll give your theory a go. He also said he was not used to treating people that understood the mind body connection and chose to live so health conscious. So he was very open to my suggestions. 

Well, absolutely nothing changed in the first month on the thyroid medicine, and bioidentical hormones No weight loss, no change in mood or libido. So I scheduled another appointment and went back. I was hopeful that he would up the dosage on all of it. The doctor was so surprised that nothing had changed based on his recommendations. So I reminded him that he had agreed to up the dosage to what I had suggested. He really had to give it a lot of thought, but let me have my way. He upped the dosage considerably.

He also listened to me about the bio-identicals, too, and  he changed those. 

So the journey back to my idea of a normal life began. Saying that 2015 was a hard year, was an understatement. But I figured I had one of two choices, take control or be controlled by my circumstances. I took control and changed my direction in life.

So this blog has gotten really long,  and there is so much more to tell. I am going to save the rest of the story for part 2-How it all turned out!! 

But what I can say to finish up this part, if you are experiencing any of these things, there is a solution. First, you need to find the right doctor. It's not as hard as you would imagine. And if you are seeing a doctor for these symptoms and you are not experiencing change, find another doctor. Talk to women that have gone through all of this. In this day and time, no woman has to live like we are in the 1950"s, where doctors thought horse urine was the answer to hormone replacement. It takes a lot of self awareness, the right physician, communication, and a determination to want to live your best life! And you can!!

In part 2 you will see after a lot of work with several doctors I got my life back and an even better version!!

Until next time xoxo