Hormone Healing Part 1
I want to start out by saying that this is simply me sharing my experience. Please do not use this to diagnose yourself, or make changes without first consulting a professional.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve heard me talking a bit about how I finally pulled the plug, and began working with a Naturopathic Doctor to help me with some issues I’ve been experiencing for quite a while. We all know that I love healthy food, I love working out, mental health is just as important as physical health in my eyes, and I’m a certified holistic health coach (I actually have 3 (2 master level) certifications in this area). You could say I know what I’m talking about when it comes to listening to my body, making adjustments to reach certain goals, and knowing when my body is well versus when it isn’t.
I’d been struggling with a few things for quite a while. I’d gone the route of doing different things in an effort to “fix” them myself. At the time, I thought to myself “I know all about this, I should be able to do this on my own.” When in reality, no matter how much you “know” (sometimes I’d say even knowing too much), you need an outside perspective. Think about a professional athlete. They are SO knowledgeable about their sport, but they most certainly have a coach and often times multiple coaches. If you’re in this situation too, I highly recommend hiring a professional. I think we can all agree that the health and wellness world is vast, there are numerous symptoms that can account for the same things, and deciphering what might actually be off can be very difficult without a doctor to guide you.
It was during the quarantine that my husband was spending a lot more time with me during the day, and he noticed exactly how I run my days, what I eat, and how active I really am. One night I was venting to him about how frustrated I was with certain symptoms I just couldn’t get rid of (see below), when he suggested I look for a doctor to help me. I think it was his nudge of, “hey, you know you can fix this, why don’t you stop trying to guess what the answer is and hire someone to guide you?” that helped me knock my ego and give myself permission to follow through. I kid you not, I made an appointment within 2 hours! It felt so good to finally let someone else take the lead. I think it comes to a certain point when you have to stop trying to self-diagnose when progress isn’t being made, especially with things like your mental or physical health.
After coming off of birth control in October 2019, I’d read quite a few hormone balancing books (loved this one and this one) so that I could know what to look out for if my body decided to get out of whack. This, combined with my love for wellness, and the numerous podcasts I listen (especially this one, this one, and this one) to daily, I knew that I either had a hormone issue, or a gut problem.
I am now in the middle of working with my Naturopathic doctor. We do not yet know for certain what is going on, or the cause, but that’s what we’re in the process of finding out! For part one today I wanted to let you in on the symptoms I was experiencing, a few possible conclusions my doctor has come up with, and what I’m currently doing to help improve and discover the root cause of my issues.
Before we jump in. I want to mention that it was very important to me to work with a Naturopathic Hormone Specialized Doctor. It is of utmost importance to me to fix the ROOT cause of my problems, and not simply cover the symptoms up with a band-aid (medication, birth control, etc.). Naturopaths specialize in healing the root, not just the symptoms through lifestyle and diet alterations and supplements.
Symptoms I noticed
Untreatable back acne and slight face acne
Excessive belly fat given a very healthy lifestyle. I want to tread lightly with this one. I do love my body, and I am so happy where I am. But to me, this is a sign that my body is telling me something is off, and it does not feel like I am my healthiest. I never expect to have “no” belly fat, as that is not healthy either. I know the difference between healthy amounts, and my belly telling me I need to fix something inside.
Difficulty losing said belly fat regardless of different methods taken (Intermittent Fasting, blood sugar balancing, metabolism type style of eating, whole food cleanses, various types of exercise done with intention, and more. All of which I have extensive knowledge on, never depriving myself in order to keep a healthy metabolism, but sticking to them almost perfectly).
Not feeling myself/loss of my natural “drive” that I’ve known my whole life
Moodiness
Excessive dry skin regardless of how much lotion, cream, oil I used
Anxiety that I’ve never felt before
Excessive bloating and digestive discomfort
Long cycles
What’s Going On?
In order to try to figure out what exactly was causing these issues, my doctor hypothesized that this could be stemming from a few different hormonal imbalances (hyothyroidism, possibly hashimotos, PCOS, and more). She then ordered me a blood test as well as the Dutch Test (which I knew I wanted to do regardless, and she agreed). You can read more about the dutch test here, but it is a complete hormone test that gives you the most feedback you can get on current hormone levels. It is taken in sync with your cycle to know exactly what is off.
The blood test ordered for me consisted of:
CBC (complete blood count)
Fasting Insulin
Fasting Lipid Panel
Free T3
Free T4
TSH
Hemoglobin A1c
Those are all a bunch of fancy words for a full thyroid panel, and insulin/blood sugar testing. This would give us the ground work to take the first steps after seeing if there is a possible thyroid issue, or metabolism issue possibly being influenced by hormone imbalance (for example, PCOS).
What’s the problem?
Well, see, this is the tricky part. Since our hormones are very intricate, and they are linked to the gut, it takes some trial and error to see what exactly is the cause.
The results of my blood test were that my blood sugar and insulin levels are great (surprising, given that I had insulin resistance syndrome from my childhood into early twenties, although a very good result!). However, I have low functioning thyroid, or, hypothyroidism. Thankfully, it’s not terrible, but of course we don’t want anything like this to be low or high, we want it to be balanced. It is important to see what is causing this because if it is hashimoto’s, that is an autoimmune disease which needs to be treated. Same goes for PCOS, which is also an autoimmune disease (the body attacking itself, as opposed to outside threats).
The Dutch test told us:
High Testosterone
Low Progesterone
Low Estrogen
Low Cortisol signaling Adrenal Fatigue
There is also reasonable cause given other symptoms dealing with my cycle to say that there is a likelihood that I am not currently ovulating.
What am I doing to support this?
My doctor is currently putting me on a plan to focus on supporting my progesterone production, and balancing the thyroid. We find it so important to go slow, pick one or two things to treat, and see where it goes from there as opposed to trying to treat everything at once. This can also help us see if autoimmune diseases are a factor or not.
My Current Plan:
Seed Cycling - read about this here
Controlling blood sugar by undergoing the therapeutic style of eating and limiting carbohydrates to a specific number (not something I at all suggest unless under guidance. Doing this on your own without professional guidance can cause serious problems, as well as unhealthy emotional relationships with food). *Furthermore, if you’re reading this, you probably know my history with disordered eating, especially if you’ve read my book. I’ve gone through great lengths to heal this relationship and I am confident I am at a place in my life that I can do this safely (I’ve spoken with my naturopath about this as well), with a mindset and intention of healing my body to support my future fertility, and well-being.*
Focusing on getting enough healthy fats to support hormone production.
Eliminating gluten for 8-12 weeks.
Focusing on eating mostly whole foods
Limiting grains to one serving per day or less
Including plant based sources of protein, and the highest of quality meats
Veggies, veggies, veggies! A wide variety of colors to provide a wide variety of nutrients to heal my body
Incorporating plenty of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich foods to support a healthy gut
Reducing cruciferous vegetables as these can be problematic for people with hypothyroidism
Including more fermented foods (kombucha, sauerkraut, pickles, etc) to support my gut - this is especially important for those with hypothyroidism.
Ensuring I get a healthy mindfulness routine to minimize stress with things like reading, getting outside for walks, using essential oils to wind down at night, and getting plenty of sleep.
Limiting irritants like dairy, alcohol, and sugar.
Why am I doing this?
Personally, I feel that a healthy body and mind helps us to live our happiest, most abundant lives. I take pride in living a healthy lifestyle, and living a long and full life is incredibly important to me. You can’t do that when things are out of whack!
I also want to have a family one day. After about 11 years on the pill, I wanted to be sure everything is working properly so that when the time comes, I can do my best to have a healthy pregnancy and baby.
I asked over on my Instagram stories if you had any questions you wanted to make sure I answer in this blog post, so I thought I’d share a few of the most common.
What are the benefits of hormone healing?
Well, there are a myriad of problems that can arise if hormones are imbalanced. A few major ones can include:
Infertility
Anxiety
Depression
Painful, irregular periods
Lack of a period
Acne
Poor digestion
Inability to keep a healthy weight
And more
Often times, hormones are the culprit to our ailments when we never even would think to check them.
Best supplements to support hormone healing?
This one is tricky. It depends first on what hormones are high or low. For this, I’d highly suggest talking with a professional, but this book is a great place to start. (For reference, though, when I read this I thought I had low testosterone and high cortisol, when the opposite is true - getting outside guidance and testing is the best option).
First I’d start with eating as many colorful vegetables in a day that you can. Also, if you know that one of the common irritants (gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol) negatively effects you, try cutting it out for a few weeks and see if things lighten up.
Tips for battling hormonal acne while coming off of birth control?
Doing a month long cleanse to rid your body of the birth control can help immensely. I followed the one in this book and felt great doing it. It is a whole food cleanse, meaning you still eat normally every day, just add certain things in and take others out. Also, making sure you’re using natural products on your skin since many of the chemicals in traditional skincare items can provoke hormonal imbalance, thus making it worse. Also, never under estimate the power of a whole food, full of vegetable diet. What you eat has a major impact! Also, water, water, water.
I hope this has helped!
XO,
Di
I want to conclude this by saying again, please contact a professional. This is simply me sharing my experience with trial and error to heal these imbalances. Do not use this to self-diagnose, treat, or make any changes as these can negatively impact your health and fertility.