If you have been following, you will know that my health is seriously unpredictable. I have difficult issues with my menstrual cycles. I would like to report that things are all resolved and I am on the track to a full recovery. However, that is just not true. Things have gotten better. There is no full recovery for what I have, there is just management (for the rest of my life).
Here is a recap of what is going on now. I have PCOS, very low progesterone, and a really hard time absorbing the vitamins I need to function (vitamin D, B-12 and I suspect Magnesium). In other words, my body is fighting against my will to live. The organs in my body are under stress and fighting to function. My liver is having a hard time keeping up with the toxic load my body carries (your liver processes everything your body carries, eats, drinks, etc.).
Since I have PCOS, this means that I have excess estrogen running rampant in my body. My poor liver doesn't know what to do with it. Therefore, it has free reign. However, that is not the only problem. Because I have PCOS this also means that I have low progesterone (tests have confirmed this). Progesterone is the hormone in your body that is responsible for maintenance of the uterine lining before, during and after pregnancy. Because I have practically no progesterone the estrogen in my body is unchecked. Progesterone and estrogen are not produced at the same time. Think of it more as a competition, if one is active the other is waiting it's turn to run a-muck. However, instead of having estrogen do it's job in the first half of my cycle, it is present the whole time. It just keeps producing. Usually, progesterone would take over half way and help with ovulation (the release of an egg). Progesterone would stick around to see if ovulation results in pregnancy. If a pregnancy occurs progesterone then gets super produced (this is what maintains a pregnancy to the end, by maintaining the uterine lining and causes morning sickness). Without progesterone, there are no babies. If pregnancy does not occur, progesterone production ceases and this drop produces a period. Estrogen takes over for the building-up of the uterine lining, to help with egg attachment when ovulation and pregnancy occur.
What does this mean for me? Because I have estrogen production down to a science, my body builds up my uterine lining with no problem. However, I have no opposing progesterone. Therefore, I am not ovulating (no egg production), which means progesterone isn't being produced at all. Estrogen just keeps going, building and building (doing it's job). Because progesterone isn't being produced (or at a very insignificant rate) my lining becomes thick. I then have a period. However, it is not normal. It causes sever bleeding and clots. Progesterone isn't being produced to stop this from happening. Excess estrogen tells your body to build, causing an unopposed period. This is why I have long cycles. The absence of progesterone to maintain a normal building/shedding cycle with ovulation in the middle.
What am I doing about it? What we know is that I have a cycle that does not work. It is broken and needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, fixing it isn't as easy as taking progesterone when my body needs it. PCOS is a complicated disease. The optimal thing to do is to achieve hormonal balance and get your body to recognize what this is and start doing it on it's own. However, this rarely happens without some sort of medicinal support throughout your life. The real issue is trying to find what exactly works for you. This disease is very individual. What works for one person could be too much for the next or not enough. It is a disease that many women suffer through. So, there are therapies out there. But getting the right dose and cocktail of drugs (herbs or pharmaceuticals) is complicated, very trial and error.
What am I trying? As I am sure you know, I have tried many things already. Vitex is my latest herb. It seems to have improved my life drastically. It has cut down on my flooding issues and even managed to make my periods only 2-3 weeks long, for a time (I am currently up-ing my dose to continue this effectiveness). I have also discovered that taking Vitamin D (for me 5000 i/u daily) has completely stopped my bleeding (this past cycle was 65 days). It is very surprising and I don't understand why Vitamin D would have this type of affect. But, I am going to continue to take it. I have also paid for an herbal consultation to help figure out what I should be doing/taking to control this disease. It has opened my eyes to really get serious about losing weight, watching what I eat (there are some foods that exacerbate my condition), and taking my supplements regularly (instead of when I feel like I need them).
Here is the current list of supplements that have been suggested for me to take:
Eat a PCOS Fertility Diet
Multivitamin or prenatal vitamin (daily)
Omegas (daily)
Vitamin D (daily)
Blood Builder (daily)- iron
Fertility Smoothie (daily):
-Maca
-Alive Bee Power Royal Jelly-overall reproductive health/endocrine health
-Whey Protein
-UltraGreens
Slow Flow (during bleeding times)-mixture of herbs to help stop heavy bleeding
Saw Palmetto (daily) - helps fight male hormones
Cinnamon (daily)-for heavy bleeding and reduce insulin resistance
Milk Thistle Extract (daily) -for liver detox and renewal
Vitex (daily)-hormone regulation
Tribulus (daily)-normalize ovulation
DIM (daily)-combating estrogen
Exercise/Walk
Chart your cycle
Make an appointment with ND for progesterone testing-to make sure I am taking the dose I need.
Here is a recap of what is going on now. I have PCOS, very low progesterone, and a really hard time absorbing the vitamins I need to function (vitamin D, B-12 and I suspect Magnesium). In other words, my body is fighting against my will to live. The organs in my body are under stress and fighting to function. My liver is having a hard time keeping up with the toxic load my body carries (your liver processes everything your body carries, eats, drinks, etc.).
Since I have PCOS, this means that I have excess estrogen running rampant in my body. My poor liver doesn't know what to do with it. Therefore, it has free reign. However, that is not the only problem. Because I have PCOS this also means that I have low progesterone (tests have confirmed this). Progesterone is the hormone in your body that is responsible for maintenance of the uterine lining before, during and after pregnancy. Because I have practically no progesterone the estrogen in my body is unchecked. Progesterone and estrogen are not produced at the same time. Think of it more as a competition, if one is active the other is waiting it's turn to run a-muck. However, instead of having estrogen do it's job in the first half of my cycle, it is present the whole time. It just keeps producing. Usually, progesterone would take over half way and help with ovulation (the release of an egg). Progesterone would stick around to see if ovulation results in pregnancy. If a pregnancy occurs progesterone then gets super produced (this is what maintains a pregnancy to the end, by maintaining the uterine lining and causes morning sickness). Without progesterone, there are no babies. If pregnancy does not occur, progesterone production ceases and this drop produces a period. Estrogen takes over for the building-up of the uterine lining, to help with egg attachment when ovulation and pregnancy occur.
What does this mean for me? Because I have estrogen production down to a science, my body builds up my uterine lining with no problem. However, I have no opposing progesterone. Therefore, I am not ovulating (no egg production), which means progesterone isn't being produced at all. Estrogen just keeps going, building and building (doing it's job). Because progesterone isn't being produced (or at a very insignificant rate) my lining becomes thick. I then have a period. However, it is not normal. It causes sever bleeding and clots. Progesterone isn't being produced to stop this from happening. Excess estrogen tells your body to build, causing an unopposed period. This is why I have long cycles. The absence of progesterone to maintain a normal building/shedding cycle with ovulation in the middle.
What am I doing about it? What we know is that I have a cycle that does not work. It is broken and needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, fixing it isn't as easy as taking progesterone when my body needs it. PCOS is a complicated disease. The optimal thing to do is to achieve hormonal balance and get your body to recognize what this is and start doing it on it's own. However, this rarely happens without some sort of medicinal support throughout your life. The real issue is trying to find what exactly works for you. This disease is very individual. What works for one person could be too much for the next or not enough. It is a disease that many women suffer through. So, there are therapies out there. But getting the right dose and cocktail of drugs (herbs or pharmaceuticals) is complicated, very trial and error.
What am I trying? As I am sure you know, I have tried many things already. Vitex is my latest herb. It seems to have improved my life drastically. It has cut down on my flooding issues and even managed to make my periods only 2-3 weeks long, for a time (I am currently up-ing my dose to continue this effectiveness). I have also discovered that taking Vitamin D (for me 5000 i/u daily) has completely stopped my bleeding (this past cycle was 65 days). It is very surprising and I don't understand why Vitamin D would have this type of affect. But, I am going to continue to take it. I have also paid for an herbal consultation to help figure out what I should be doing/taking to control this disease. It has opened my eyes to really get serious about losing weight, watching what I eat (there are some foods that exacerbate my condition), and taking my supplements regularly (instead of when I feel like I need them).
Here is the current list of supplements that have been suggested for me to take:
Eat a PCOS Fertility Diet
Multivitamin or prenatal vitamin (daily)
Omegas (daily)
Vitamin D (daily)
Blood Builder (daily)- iron
Fertility Smoothie (daily):
-Maca
-Alive Bee Power Royal Jelly-overall reproductive health/endocrine health
-Whey Protein
-UltraGreens
Slow Flow (during bleeding times)-mixture of herbs to help stop heavy bleeding
Saw Palmetto (daily) - helps fight male hormones
Cinnamon (daily)-for heavy bleeding and reduce insulin resistance
Milk Thistle Extract (daily) -for liver detox and renewal
Vitex (daily)-hormone regulation
Tribulus (daily)-normalize ovulation
DIM (daily)-combating estrogen
Exercise/Walk
Chart your cycle
Make an appointment with ND for progesterone testing-to make sure I am taking the dose I need.
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