Thank goodness this story has a happy ending. If you have not read the previous blog, you might want to read it before this one. It is a post on some health issues that took quite a toll on my life.  Part 2 is how I took control of my health. So many questions, needing so many answers.

I  pretty much demanded that my doctor at least try out my theory for my thyroid medicine and the bio identical hormones recommendations. Reluctantly, he did. That is why I made the comment in the prior blog about who you choose as your physician. If you are getting results that you are happy with and they move you down the path of being the best version of yourself, then stay with that doctor and continue to do your own self study. If not, find a new doctor. 

As I mentioned in the last blog, I had hypothyroidism, no progesterone or testosterone, and I was critically low in Vitamin D.

Some of the classic symptoms of a low thyroid-Hypothyroidism are, dry skin, brittle hair and nails, fatigue, low libido, partial loss of eyebrows, and weight gain. I had them all. In fact in the middle of trying to determine the problem and the solution, I actually lost half of my left eyebrow. Vanished, gone.

And then throw in low progesterone. This results in headaches, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, low libido, thyroid dysfunction,(low progesterone impacts your thyroid and vice versa),  mood swings, and loss of sleep.

Now top it off with low testosterone and the fact I was critically low in vitamin D,  mental fatigue, weight gain, reduced libido, sluggishness, loss of muscle tissue, and for some women, painful sex, osteoporosis, and sluggishness. Basically with all the things I had going on it was like living with triple the symptoms. Because it's all connected!

If you are reading this blog and are experiencing some of these symptoms or all of them, there is help and solutions. Seriously, science has come so far in the last 50 years and women in 2019 can claim their lives back.

My doctor let me have my way and increased my thyroid medicine, he tripled the dosage and increased the progesterone and testosterone the following month. I started on my new prescriptions and within a week I thought to myself, now we are getting somewhere. after a year and a half of struggling to regain my health and basically my sanity, the round peg finally fit the round hole!!

When I went back the following month for another round of blood work, I had lost 18 pounds without changing a thing. My body was finally working again. My cells were talking to each other, and my metabolism had finally kicked back in.  Along with the weight drop, I felt normal, my old self, but a better version. The hot flashes and night sweats began to subside. My hair texture changed, my eyebrow grew back in and I wasn't tired anymore and the low libido ended.  I was happy. And I didn't have to talk myself into being happy and find all the reasons in life I should be happy, I was just Happy.

So you would think that with all this going on I would just continue to take my medication and bio idenitcals and carry on with my life. But I took it a step further. The doctor that I went to in Destin did not specialize in women's health issues or hormone replacement. I wanted to seek out a doctor, a female, that specialized in this area and get a second opinion. So I did. I am the only one in charge of my health and body, so I wanted to know that everything that I was doing was on point. I found a doctor 8 hours away from where I lived and scheduled an appointment. 

I drove there and went in for a consult. Of course we did new blood work and I got her up to date on what I had gone through. After my blood work came back, her recommendation was to stay on the thyroid medicine that I was taking. She actually did extra panels of thyroid tests that most doctors don't do. She had me  switch to bio identical creams instead of a sublinguals. I had my creams mailed to me in FL from the compounding pharmacy there because she wasn't licensed in the state of Florida. For me there was a big difference in the creams and the sublinguals. I felt the effects of creams much more than I did the sublinguals. I loved them. Life got even better, I didn't even think that was possible. Now I was in the zone.

All aspects of my life improved! My relationships, business, creativity and just over all sense of well being. 

I have no idea what is right for anyone else. I would love to think that I could do all of this without the aide of this medication and hormone replacements. But I haven't been able to do it yet. And I have finally come to a place of peace with myself about it and the cost of it. Hormone replacement is not cheap. But I am okay with it because it's one of the main things I spend my money on that gives me my life back. And you can't put a price on that.

I will continue to research and look for alternatives to replace all of this. But until then this is how my life looks and I am beyond grateful that it all got resolved. 

I do feel like my lifestyle and food choices only contribute to the success of it all, and I am always happy to share anything that I am doing with anyone. 

 Thank you for taking the time to read, and if anyone has any questions, I am more than happy to answer. Feel free to reach out. 

until next time, xoxo