My Hormone Health Journey
My journey in understanding how hormonal imbalances effect my overall health began with a simple search for a holistic practitioner. I had just turned 30, moved to Bloomington from Chicago and my health had started to take a slow turn for the worst. After seeing my new doctor he began to talk about cortisol, adrenal fatigue and the affects of toxins in my environment(especially at work, salon chemicals). I was intrigued. I had been battling painful menstruation periods, and the three days leading up to my period were excruciating. Intense cramps, nausea, and 101 degree fever that lasted 1-3 days were only the start of it each month. Steph would call it my “period flu.” Then the heavy bleeding would start and last sometimes 10 days. Upon coming out of that I would usually get about 3 or 4 good days out of the month. After experiencing this for almost two years I lived in a constant state of exhaustion.
I progressively lost weight and began to experience monthly infections. Sinus, kidney, and candida infections where a regular thing. Cysts on my ovaries that a few times became so enlarged, painful and infected that I was put on bedrest. I was getting nowhere with my doctors. I had questions and was usually met with “simple fixes” like a prescription for an antibiotic and a quick offering of advice like eat healthier, exercise more. Easier said than done when I felt like going to work, having a small social life that brings you some joy, and house work was all I could handle. Also, I thought that I was eating healthy, but all that I knew about eating healthier was that a salad was better than pizza or a hamburger, but not much more than that. I had quit smoking and thought that I would see miraculous health benefits in doing this, but rather I was met with years of feeling my worst.
A client of mine in Chicago was studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture and she invited me to see her at the school there. I started doing this regularly and it was somewhat helpful. She also shared with me a book that she loved as a reference called Healing With Whole Foods. I instantly went to a local book store and ordered it. When we moved to Bloomington we had no friends or community starting out and Steph was working two jobs. When I was not at work I became obsessed with this book. Steph would come home after driving for an hour and I would want to share with her all of the things that I was learning. Ha! At a certain point she did not want to hear about the healing powers of food. I loved learning ways to build immunity and energy and through experimentation I started to see some positive results.
Fast Forward to 2015. At this point I had established myself in Bloomington. Steph and I had started to build the life that we wanted. We owned our own home, we had made some big life decisions like to not have children and pursue other avenues like acts of service and travel, and at this point we had opened a salon (and had been open for 3 years). I would do things that would affect my health in positive ways like clean eating and regular movement but the stresses of being a business owner and learning to lead others was such a rollercoaster of emotions that really took a toll on my health. By 35 I had found a local OBGYN that took the time to help me understand what was going on with my hormones. I shared with him the new list of issues including waking up drenched in sweat, rarely being able to sleep past 3am, and feeling so irritable that I avoided being around people because of feeling embarrassment for how I felt and my actions. I was a heavy drinker at one point and I began enjoying wine after work to self medicate and relax. My doctor talked to me about alcohol consumption and what I was going through (perimenopause ). This was hard to process because I thought I was “healthy” because of what I ate. It was also hard because the term menopause was something that I thought that only women in their 50’s went through and none of my friends were going through issues like this.
What my body was going through at that time, that I only now fully understand was high cortisol, low progesterone and elevated estrogen. This created a storm within my body. This imbalance led to low cortisol (from prolonged bouts of high cortisol output) which causes dizziness, extreme fatigue, depression, uncontrollable crying, amongst other debilitating symptoms. I now understand that most of this was from overwork and stress. Over the past two years I have worked to not only understand my diet and how it affects my hormones, but also how my overall lifestyle effects them too. This past year through using techniques that I learned in my initial IIN training I have been getting regular blood tests and my hormones are at a really great place. I am sleeping 7-8 hours a night, I am taking the time for self care practices, setting boundaries with folks that I do not feel best around and making more time for those that bring out the best in me. I have also built a movement practice that is balanced and nurturing to my body.
Our hormones are affected by many aspects including diet. There are medications out there to help that your doctor can prescribe. Through pairing this (when needed) with daily habits that nurture your body, I believe that true health can flourish.
Feeling beautiful as we age is something that we all deserve. I feel so grateful for the days that I feel fully aligned and in my worth. Here is to turning 44 in two weeks!
I am currently putting the finishing touches on my free Hormone Health:Basics online course. Watch for this on my website, coming soon!