Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The battle of the psychomones continues

My journey to better hormone health continues and I wanted to share some additional information with you.

In my last blog post on the science project update I mentioned the Emerita progesterone cream that I purchased at Sprouts. I got online and found a screaming good deal on this particular cream. I paid about $30 for a 2 oz tube of this cream at Sprouts. I was surfing the web and found a wonderful online company called Vitacost.com. You can purchase the Emerita cream in a 4 oz tube for $27 bucks. This includes shipping which brings it right to your front door. I am thinking this is a great big freakin' deal. You are basically getting double the cream for less moula and it is being delivered straight to your door. I ordered it on Friday and received it today (Tuesday). I love a good deal. I love even more that it is progesterone cream that will potentially keep me from going postal on someone. See I get my cream for a great price and no one dies! Awesomeness!

Next up is a wonderful website that I came across regarding women's hormone health. It is called women in balance. The best part about this group and their website is that they are non-profit. I am thinking this is a big deal as they are working for the good of the women folk and they don't even care if they are making a killing off of us. I looked at the entire site and found it very informative. Check it out when you get a minute.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Science Project Update 2

I finally finished all of the spittin' on the saliva hormone panel and I received the results back from Dr. Block. I am definitely estrogen dominate which means that my estrogen and progesterone stay pretty balanced for the first 2 weeks of my cycle every month. This is when I feel pretty calm, happy, energetic and just in a better frame of mind.

What is happening during the last 2 weeks of my cycle every month is what has been tripping me up so much lately. It seems that my progesterone falls below optimum levels to balance out with my estrogen. This progesterone decline is believed to be what is making me feel so exhausted, wimpy, bitchy, chubby, irritated, cry babyish and just down right hard to get along with for those two weeks. My understanding is that your progesterone levels should be about 200 to 1 over the estrogen levels. Dr. Block explained to me that my hormones where basically just all over the board with estrogen being dominant and progesterone just trying to hang tough. I explained to her that my beloved Joe could have told her that I was estrogen dominant without any of those tests. Which might have saved me the couple thousand bucks I have spent on all of this dang testing. Trust me the boy knows estrogen dominance when he sees it and he has been a seein' it alot lately. I apologize to you my beloved Joe.

Anywho...let me get on with the treatment plan because I am all about getting me fixed and back going so that I can actually get on with my life. The first thing Dr. Block suggested is that I start using an over the counter natural progesterone cream. She suggested that I apply it once a day during the first 2 weeks of my cycle and then twice a day both morning and night for the last two weeks of my cycle. I started using Emerita Pro Gest Natural Progesterone Cream. You can find it at Sprouts. I chose this one because of some reading I had been doing on the product. Dr. Christiane Northrup who is the author of The Wisdom of Menopause suggested it in her book. Dr. Northrup has written several books on women's health issues so I have grown to trust her judgement. Dr. Block also has progesterone cream available that she knows to be a good product. I am sure I will try her type as well.

The next thing Dr. Block suggested that I do is start taking 15mg of DHEA. DHEA is dehydroepiandrosterone which is a natural steroid and precursor hormone produced by the adrenals. Go here for a great article about DHEA. Please take the time to read this article as it is very informative and goes into alot of detail. Again, I found DHEA at Sprouts in the men's health section of the store.

All in all I am pumped about all of the things that I have learned from Dr. Block. This has been an interesting journey for sure. I am optimistic that I am on the right track with the creams and the supplements. I really wanted to try and solve my hormonal problems in the most natural way possible. I think I am off to a great start. I will keep you posted on my progress. I am going to follow this regimen for 2 months and check back in with Dr. Block.

Show up and make it count!