nattyjules
Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2015
- Messages
- 27
Apart from my introductory post, this is my first post in the forums - so hello to everyone :)
My question is to find out other's opinions of where I should start looking to resolve my health issues, so please bear with me over my long post as I give a brief background!
I had PCOS symptoms when I was 21 (or so I thought) - looking back now I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism - acne, weight gain, puffy face, always cold and tired etc. By sheer luck this resolved itself within 6 months after changing my stressful lifestyle.
A year after the birth of my daughter (age 25), the symptoms came creeping back - initially it was acne, then menstrual irregularities, then ridiculous weight gain (15kg in 3 months). I'm now 32, and have been in a yo-yo circle of recovery - crash - recovery - crash ever since. I had confirmed PCOS by internal ultrasound when I was 27, and was prescribed estrogen birth control pills and a heavy dose of estradiol. My body cannot tolerate any form of synthetic hormones (I become depressed and over-emotional very quickly when I take them) so I didn't pursue this for long.
Initially I'd visited a Naturopath and an Acupuncturist with great success. I lost all of the weight, the acne was minimal and my cycle fairly regular. I've visited acupuncturist and naturopaths over the years which has helped somewhat, but I've never managed to fully recover.
After speaking with Dr. Lam, it's clear that I have adrenal fatigue issues, but it wasn't until I started monitoring my temps that I started to investigate more. My most recent 'crash' left me with waking temps of 35.4 - 35.6C, and it's taken about 4 months to get my temps up to where they are now - around 36.1 - 36.3C.
I tried taking pregnenolone prior to my recent crash, thinking it would hold all the answers as the precursor to many hormonal functions. Unfortunately, I started off on too high a dose - which gave me heaps of energy, but I never slept properly and always woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. My acne also started to worsen so I stopped taking it straight away. Even when I dropped down to just 5mg a day I was still experiencing the same problems - and I don't feel like I've fully recovered since.
I then tried to manage my symptoms ever since using natural adaptogens like Ashwaganda, Ginseng, Licorice and Maca, as well as liposomal Vit. C for adrenal support - but the low temps have me thinking that hypothyroidism is the main issue here, as well as estrogen dominance. My body loves the Vit. C - and I see faster wound healing whenever I supplement with this.
Whilst I am very lucky not to be carrying any excess weight at the moment, my current symptoms include acne, extreme fatigue, cold hands and feet, not sleeping properly, slow wound healing, menstrual irregularities (anywhere from 23 - 30 days cycle length) and heavy, long periods.
I've just started taking Thiroyd only this week to see how I fare (currently on 1/2 grain twice a day), but within 1 day of taking it, it made my cycle start - at the 23 day mark! is it possible for it to have such an immediate effect?)
I also have hydrocortisone tablets but I'm afraid to take them because I wanted to start on just the NDT to see how I go.
It's been 7 years of constant struggle with symptoms, supplements and just feeling so run down and tired! I'm a single parent and I feel like my daughter (8) isn't getting the best of me.
So any tips or pointers as to where I should be looking would be great! Sorry for such a long ramble...
My question is to find out other's opinions of where I should start looking to resolve my health issues, so please bear with me over my long post as I give a brief background!
I had PCOS symptoms when I was 21 (or so I thought) - looking back now I had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism - acne, weight gain, puffy face, always cold and tired etc. By sheer luck this resolved itself within 6 months after changing my stressful lifestyle.
A year after the birth of my daughter (age 25), the symptoms came creeping back - initially it was acne, then menstrual irregularities, then ridiculous weight gain (15kg in 3 months). I'm now 32, and have been in a yo-yo circle of recovery - crash - recovery - crash ever since. I had confirmed PCOS by internal ultrasound when I was 27, and was prescribed estrogen birth control pills and a heavy dose of estradiol. My body cannot tolerate any form of synthetic hormones (I become depressed and over-emotional very quickly when I take them) so I didn't pursue this for long.
Initially I'd visited a Naturopath and an Acupuncturist with great success. I lost all of the weight, the acne was minimal and my cycle fairly regular. I've visited acupuncturist and naturopaths over the years which has helped somewhat, but I've never managed to fully recover.
After speaking with Dr. Lam, it's clear that I have adrenal fatigue issues, but it wasn't until I started monitoring my temps that I started to investigate more. My most recent 'crash' left me with waking temps of 35.4 - 35.6C, and it's taken about 4 months to get my temps up to where they are now - around 36.1 - 36.3C.
I tried taking pregnenolone prior to my recent crash, thinking it would hold all the answers as the precursor to many hormonal functions. Unfortunately, I started off on too high a dose - which gave me heaps of energy, but I never slept properly and always woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. My acne also started to worsen so I stopped taking it straight away. Even when I dropped down to just 5mg a day I was still experiencing the same problems - and I don't feel like I've fully recovered since.
I then tried to manage my symptoms ever since using natural adaptogens like Ashwaganda, Ginseng, Licorice and Maca, as well as liposomal Vit. C for adrenal support - but the low temps have me thinking that hypothyroidism is the main issue here, as well as estrogen dominance. My body loves the Vit. C - and I see faster wound healing whenever I supplement with this.
Whilst I am very lucky not to be carrying any excess weight at the moment, my current symptoms include acne, extreme fatigue, cold hands and feet, not sleeping properly, slow wound healing, menstrual irregularities (anywhere from 23 - 30 days cycle length) and heavy, long periods.
I've just started taking Thiroyd only this week to see how I fare (currently on 1/2 grain twice a day), but within 1 day of taking it, it made my cycle start - at the 23 day mark! is it possible for it to have such an immediate effect?)
I also have hydrocortisone tablets but I'm afraid to take them because I wanted to start on just the NDT to see how I go.
It's been 7 years of constant struggle with symptoms, supplements and just feeling so run down and tired! I'm a single parent and I feel like my daughter (8) isn't getting the best of me.
So any tips or pointers as to where I should be looking would be great! Sorry for such a long ramble...