I've been overdue for a health update for quite a while, so I thought it was about time that I take a few minutes and explain whats been going on for the last 6+ months.
Late summer/early fall of last year, I noticed some changes to my cycle. I skipped a period, and started getting anxiety again on and off. Intuitively I felt there was something going on with my hormones and/or thyroid, so I decided to go to a new PCP I had heard good things about. (I updated about everything that happened in this post back in December)To make a long story short, my tests came out fine.
Unfortunately, my symptoms started getting worse. Earlier this year, I had my first anxiety attack, and then another a few days later. I started struggling with anxiety and depression most of the month. Some days I couldn't bear to even go out to the store. I'd get horrible headaches and insomnia, my brain felt foggy, and I'd have severe temperature fluctuations; one minute having a hot flash, the next I'd be under a heated blanket because I felt so cold. Once I started having the anxiety attacks, my herbalist suggested I get some testing through ZRT labs. I ended up doing the menstrual cycle mapping, so we could figure out exactly what was going on with my hormones. I got the results back a week and a half ago, and my estrogen and progesterone are extremely low during my entire cycle; often not even reaching the lowest of the range they should be in. It felt really validating to have proof that my intuition was correct. My herbalist feels my body is tired. When I look back, I had symptoms of hormonal issues after having Leah, when I was getting really sick with Lyme. Doing intermittent fasting in 2018 compounded the problem, and since then it has just gotten worse. I've been treating Lyme for almost 3 years, aggressively, non-stop, which does take a toll on the body.
Together we discussed a plan to get my body back on track. I have separate core support tinctures for the two phases of my cycle, a tea to drink daily to help my nervous system, and we're going to give my adrenals a lot of support. The goal is to fix the root of the problem, and strengthen my body so it can start creating my hormones on its own. But she did say I could get progesterone cream to temporarily help with the symptoms. I've been using it for 5 days now, and although I'm still dealing with some insomnia and headaches, I don't feel depressed or anxious and I have more energy. It's going to take a few months to get my body on the right track, but the cream is helping to keep me sane. I can deal with the physical symptoms if I'm getting reprieve from the depression and anxiety.
As far as Lyme goes, we believe I'm likely in remission. It's been too hard to tell with all the hormonal symptoms. I'm on a lower dose of my antimicrobial herbs, and will be lowering again. I had been having issues with one of my ankles for a few months, which became worse and then I started getting pain on the tops and the soles of my feet, so I knew it was Bartonella. I raised my dose of the herbs for two weeks and it went away. Otherwise, I've been mostly symptom-free. My only issues are the air hunger, which has flipped and now I mostly don't have it, with a few days to a week a month where it comes back. My hips have been almost completely pain-free and yoga is helping them to be more open. I do have some pain in my hands when I do repetitive motions, but that could also be due to hormones. We will have to see what happens.
Late summer/early fall of last year, I noticed some changes to my cycle. I skipped a period, and started getting anxiety again on and off. Intuitively I felt there was something going on with my hormones and/or thyroid, so I decided to go to a new PCP I had heard good things about. (I updated about everything that happened in this post back in December)To make a long story short, my tests came out fine.
Unfortunately, my symptoms started getting worse. Earlier this year, I had my first anxiety attack, and then another a few days later. I started struggling with anxiety and depression most of the month. Some days I couldn't bear to even go out to the store. I'd get horrible headaches and insomnia, my brain felt foggy, and I'd have severe temperature fluctuations; one minute having a hot flash, the next I'd be under a heated blanket because I felt so cold. Once I started having the anxiety attacks, my herbalist suggested I get some testing through ZRT labs. I ended up doing the menstrual cycle mapping, so we could figure out exactly what was going on with my hormones. I got the results back a week and a half ago, and my estrogen and progesterone are extremely low during my entire cycle; often not even reaching the lowest of the range they should be in. It felt really validating to have proof that my intuition was correct. My herbalist feels my body is tired. When I look back, I had symptoms of hormonal issues after having Leah, when I was getting really sick with Lyme. Doing intermittent fasting in 2018 compounded the problem, and since then it has just gotten worse. I've been treating Lyme for almost 3 years, aggressively, non-stop, which does take a toll on the body.
Together we discussed a plan to get my body back on track. I have separate core support tinctures for the two phases of my cycle, a tea to drink daily to help my nervous system, and we're going to give my adrenals a lot of support. The goal is to fix the root of the problem, and strengthen my body so it can start creating my hormones on its own. But she did say I could get progesterone cream to temporarily help with the symptoms. I've been using it for 5 days now, and although I'm still dealing with some insomnia and headaches, I don't feel depressed or anxious and I have more energy. It's going to take a few months to get my body on the right track, but the cream is helping to keep me sane. I can deal with the physical symptoms if I'm getting reprieve from the depression and anxiety.
As far as Lyme goes, we believe I'm likely in remission. It's been too hard to tell with all the hormonal symptoms. I'm on a lower dose of my antimicrobial herbs, and will be lowering again. I had been having issues with one of my ankles for a few months, which became worse and then I started getting pain on the tops and the soles of my feet, so I knew it was Bartonella. I raised my dose of the herbs for two weeks and it went away. Otherwise, I've been mostly symptom-free. My only issues are the air hunger, which has flipped and now I mostly don't have it, with a few days to a week a month where it comes back. My hips have been almost completely pain-free and yoga is helping them to be more open. I do have some pain in my hands when I do repetitive motions, but that could also be due to hormones. We will have to see what happens.
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