the last 6 years in particular have been challenging for me health wise, I chalked it up to stress of getting married and moving far from home, living with an autoimmune disease and a million other little things. HOWEVER, turns out that 85% of the stuff I've struggled with are all linked together.
it was like a tiny little snowball, rolling down the hill, super slow at first but then picking up speed and by the time it gets to the bottom it's gigantic.
2017 is when the snowball got to the bottom of the hill.
First it was my memory, I started to forget things so often. I locked the keys in the house so many times that my husband bought and installed a code lock so he didn't have to come home and unlock the door for me every time. I also lost a job because I couldn't focus enough to follow a simple check list. then my mind entered what I can only explain as a fog, normal was slipping from my grasp quickly.
My sleep, or lack there of got worse, the all natural sleep aid I had been using stopped working, and I resorted to benadryl to get sleep and maintain what little energy I could.
I was exhausted from the moment I woke to the moment I got back into bed, and while I was going to the gym religiously and participating in at least 2 hour long group fitness classes each week, I was slowly gaining weight and hadn't seen a single change in the year or so of this new habit.
Then my body joined the party - hot flashes, irregular cycles, a rush or "hormonal" side effects.
Let me remind you that in 2018 I turned 35, NOT 53, I am YOUNG. So I didn't look at what seems obvious to me now. I simple felt like I was going crazy, I was not feeling like myself, and I couldn't explain to you why.
My doctor visits lent NO HELP to me. they pointed at symptoms and offered treatment without telling me or even trying to figure out what was causing them. When I finally put it all together I wrote out my list of symptoms on a timeline and I went to the dr again. She was in her 50's and going through hormonal changes herself so she understood every bit of what I was explaining - I left that aptm feeling like there was hope to finding my way back to who I am, who I used to be.
2018 was also the year that I found my way back (or started to) - through HRT and on going education and listening to my body. (over the counter creams and a prescription testosterone cream)
I have something called Premature Ovarian Failure- which has caused my body to go into peri menopause (which is the period of time before menopause when your body is stopping the regular production of the hormones that the body needs to preform as usual) Peri can last anywhere from 4-10 years. I have been experiencing side effects of peri for 6 years now, and was on my "self guided" HRT for about a year.
THEN 2 months ago I met an amazing DR. she believed me, listened to me, offered help. We ran some hormone panels and she place me on the Pellets for estrogen and testosterone (I'll continue use of my progesterone cream) - I am very hopeful that this new course of action will yeild some more "normal" coming back in my direction, but it's too early to tell, it's been just 5 days on the Pellets. I'll keep track of the progress along the way
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