Hormone Healing Part 2
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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.
It has been quite a while since I’ve given you an update on how my hormone healing experience is going. Well friends, it’s been a winding road that’s for sure!
It’s taken me so long to update you because on the one hand progress isn’t always linear, and on the other hand I feel bad because I feel like it’s almost a bit boring since I haven’t quite reached the “after” of this process, do you know what I mean?
But I guess that’s the point of sharing the middle of this process. If you’re going through this too, I want to be real and show you that if you’re not experiencing the healing you want, you’re not alone! If it’s not going as quickly as you wanted, you’re not alone! And it takes time, trial and error, but eventually you will find the root of what you’re experiencing and your “after” is on it’s way!
Honestly, the winding road of this process doesn’t bother me too much. Given this is something that affects my everyday life and I’m adamant about fixing the root of the problem as opposed to just covering it up with a bandaid, the trial and error really doesn’t bother me. If you haven’t read my first hormone healing blog post, do so before moving on by clicking here!
In the initial post I talk all about how I knew I wanted to work with a naturopathic hormone doctor, the symptoms I noticed, the initial plan my doctor put me on, and how hormone healing can benefit you in the long run.
Today, I’m going to dive into what’s been happening since that first blog post, changes we’ve found, and how we (meaning me and my naturopathic hormone doctor) are navigating through this now.
After receiving the results of my Dutch Test we found I was experiencing:
High testosterone
Low Progesterone
Low Estrogen
Low Cortisol signaling adrenal fatigue
Along with this, my blood test resulted in a low functioning thyroid. So, to begin, I started taking about 4 supplements, mainly trying to heal my low functioning thyroid. For a while I felt great! I had so much energy back, I had my motivation back for everyday things, and I was waking up feeling actually awake, which I didn’t realize I hadn’t actually been experiencing for a long time. However, the acne got slightly worse with cystic acne on my back, digestion was not well, the belly fat/weight issue also slightly got worse and then went to a standstill, and I started to have more days that I wasn’t quite feeling myself again. After a follow up blood test to see how my thyroid was improving or worsening, we found that my thyroid issue was actually getting worse. At first glance this is not at all a great outcome!! But, hormone health can be really intricate, and any imbalances can be caused by multiple things. Given the fact that my testosterone was high and estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid were low, there were plenty of factors playing into the symptoms I was experiencing. We started healing the thyroid first, and that wasn’t quite the root issue. Since I did feel great at first, it meant that some of my symptoms were being helped, but not all of them. Mind you, this is about a 4-5 month time span of seeing how these supplements affect me and where we need to make changes. It is not a quick process, but definitely a worthwhile one.
Though the steps backwards considering the thyroid result was not at all what I’d hoped for, it was also a step in the right direction by knowing what wasn’t working. After this, my Doctor changed up my supplements to hopefully make more progress. Along with doing the entire nutrition and lifestyle plan I talked about in my first hormone healing blog post a few changes/additions we made are:
1 cup burdock root tea per day to aid in liver detoxification
Including more iodine in my diet to support thyroid function
Including a supplement for estrogen metabolization
A less aggressive thyroid supplement
Including an adrenal support supplement twice per day
A reishi supplement to regulate active testosterone balance
An ovarian support supplement
As well as a progesterone supplement that also supports ovulation
After 2 cycles we met back again to see what changes have been made. Great news, acne started to improve! My mood and energy felt supported again, but the belly fat and digestion hadn’t improved nor worsened. So, next up was doing a gut test! Specifically checking for SIBO, which means small intestine bacterial overgrowth. This is what we are still waiting to receive the results for. Prior to working with my doctor I knew that the gut and hormones are highly intertwined. If you have a hormone issue, it’s highly likely you also have a gut issue, and if you have a gut issue it’s highly likely you have a hormone issue as well. So this did not at all surprise me, as a matter of fact I was hoping this would be the next step. I listen to countless podcasts about health and wellness and a gut issue is something I’ve been suspecting for a few months now. If I’m being honest, I sort of hope it’s positive just so that I know what is happening and can make more impactful changes and see results!
In the end, this long road isn’t over yet, but I am so glad I took the step to start working with my naturopath last spring. It’s helped me so much mentally knowing that I’m being guided and don’t have to figure this all out on my own, but rather I’m choosing to let a professional guide me! And though I don’t have it all figured out yet, I know it’s a marathon not a sprint, and I have faith that it is all working out and there will come a day when it is all balanced!
Do you find these types of blog posts helpful? Your feedback helps me so much in creating my posts for my blog. Over on Instagram you all always say how helpful talking about hormone regulation has been for you. I’d love it if you left a comment here or sent me a quick email or DM letting me know if this helps you or is something you enjoy reading about!
XO,
Di