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ACK! Hormone Imbalance >.<



Due to heavy bleedings and irregular periods, my lady boss sent me to Damansara Specialist Hospital on the 2nd of July. After consultation, few Q&A sessions, urine test and ultrasound, I was medically declared as a hormone imbalance sufferer. Sounds funny? Well, FUNNY MY ASS! It’s NOT ok. Seriously its not at all :




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“In the normal menstrual cycle, only estrogen is produced for the first 10-12 days. Ovulation then tells the female body to produce progesterone, and the hormones are in balance. Progesterone sustains the endometrium, so it can receive a fertilized egg if pregnancy occurs. If there's no pregnancy, then the body stops producing both hormones, and menstruation occurs.
BUT - let's say you have NO ovulation one month (a typical pre-menopause event). Then the estrogen already produced for that month is NEVER balanced by progesterone, which can only be produced with ovulation. Therefore, it produces estrogen, but LESS progesterone. THIS is hormone imbalance and is causing hormone imbalance symptoms, symptoms female hormone imbalance and fluctuations in hormone levels.


Estrogen is still produced in the monthly cycle (you'll have a monthly period), but a missed ovulation means no progesterone is made! And unbalanced estrogen is... TOXIC!”


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And yes, of course one thing leads to another. What actually happens when my silly progesterone is not being made by my body? Here’s a few of the symptoms, just in case you’re wondering…


Estrogen Effects • Weight gain • Depression, headaches • Fibrocystic breasts • Breast cancer risk • Increases risk of gall bladder • Increases endometrial cancer • Decreases sex drive • Increases blood clotting • Causes thyroid imbalance • Irregular menstrual flow • Elevated blood pressure • Risk of miscarriage • Depletes bone density (WHICH EXPLAINS WHY AM I GETTING SICKER ALL THE TIME : )





Progesterone Effects • Utilizes fat for energy • Natural antidepressant • Protects fibrocystic breasts • Decreases risk of breast cancer • Needed for embryo survival • Prevents endometrial cancer • Restores sex drive • Normalizes blood clotting • Causes thyroid balance • Normalizes periods • Regulates blood pressure • Prevents miscarriages • Stimulates bone density





Ok, you see that Progesterone thingy goes up and the Estrogen falls down? My Progesterone are not produce, hence the cycle of having a normal period does not occurs. And it left me with a LOT of Estrogen (read back above to see Estrogen Effects). And if there is a hormone imbalance, then the person would be UNABLE TO REPRODUCE!


Other than that, EXCESS Adrenalin seems to be another problem for me. These are intense, type A personalities - which can be described as impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, incapable of relaxation, often high achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. WOW, I seem to be all cranked up :P





Ouh and suddenly I know that my “Ape-like body hair” is not because of my parent’s genetic whatsoever. Yeah, I got all those hair at all those places. So, Miss Sexy Chewbacca, who’s hairier? Me or you? *ROFL*

And the most common symptoms are weight increase, fatigue and loss of short-term memory, pain and anxiety.



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In instances of major fatigue and anxiety the patients have reached a state of adrenal exhaustion which results in low cortisol. When this occurs there is no choice but to use our backup emergency hormone, adrenalin, for all the things are regulated by cortisol: energy, allergy and stress. Whenever your body calls on your adrenal gland and says, "we need some energy, send us some cortisol," your adrenal gland replies, "sorry girl, you’ve been out of cortisol these last few months; but we'll send you what we've got plenty of…adrenalin."


Adrenalin is design for life-threatening EMERGENCIES. So, you end up with the effect of progesterone out of balance with estrogen... hair loss, etc., the typical perimenopausal or menopausal symptoms. Furthermore, you use adrenalin for all the things for which you usually use cortisol. Adrenalin will get it done, but it is a very uncomfortable form of energy. Hard, brittle energy. Very tense for an hour and a half or two, then the bottom drops out as your sugar drops precipitously.


So, then, we "drug" ourselves with some food or drink so we can feel better again. This is how we get into food allergy and addiction. If we drink something we are mildly allergic to (like a Coke or a cup of coffee) our body has a mild allergic reaction and releases a dose of adrenalin. In moments we begin to feel better. More energy. More alert. Less shaky. This gives us a couple of hours of energy. Then the bottom falls out all over again. This means we will have seven or eight of these two hour excursions each day. Each adrenalin excursion is a little lower than the previous one. By the end of the day we are absolutely exhausted. Out of gas. It's over.


Eventually you fall asleep in absolute exhaustion, but... YOU DON'T REST! You will sleep fitfully, perhaps awaken with any "click" or "pop" in the house. Most will awaken between 2 and 3 AM because mold sporulates (reproduces) at about 2 AM and, as it pours out of AC systems, our bodies react with yet another burst of adrenalin which wakes us up and often “scares the pee” out us as many will feel an urgent need to urinate. We fall back asleep, in continuing exhaustion, and awaken in the morning feeling like we haven't had enough "rest" and this is indeed the case.


If we are using adrenalin to run our daily lives, we are like someone who has had way too much coffee. They will eventually fall asleep, but they cannot sink deeply enough asleep to get REM (rapid eye movement) sleep or fourth level, restorative sleep. If we are over-adrenalized we cannot seem to catch up on our rest. In fact, the longer we sleep, the worse we feel.


Now we have a new problem... CHRONIC SLEEP DEPRIVATION. And you thought you were "jittery" before. So you get up feeling like you haven't had enough rest (and indeed you haven't) and what do you have to do? Put out a squirt of adrenalin to begin your day... And the pattern begins to repeat itself, day after day. Now we begin to feel frequent chest tightness, shortness of breath, tingling and numbness, difficulty swallowing, gastric acid reflux, stomach aches, joint pain and severe irritability.



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Haaa! So I think now you guys got the clear picture of why I’m not onlining that much, I’m not talking that much, I kept on saying I’m not feeling well – coz I AM NOT WELL *sobs* As for that, the doctor prescribed me this medication to be taken EVERYDAY, non-stop.


NORETHISTERONE

”It contains norethisterone, which is a synthetic form of the naturally occurring female sex hormone, progesterone. The progesterone-only pill acts by affecting the natural mucus at the neck of the womb. Norethisterone increases the thickness of this mucus making it more difficult for sperm to cross from the vagina into the womb. By preventing sperm entering the womb, successful fertilization of an egg, leading to pregnancy, is less likely. Norethisterone also acts to change the quality of the womb lining (endometrium). This prevents the successful implantation of a fertilized egg onto the wall of the womb, thereby preventing pregnancy. Norethisterone may also prevent the release of an egg from the ovary.”



POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS
Rash
Depression
Irregular menstrual cycle
Breast tenderness/swelling
Nausea and vomiting
Weight changes
Headache/migraine
Changes in sex drive
Menstrual spotting between periods
Irregular brown patches on the skin of the face and elsewhere (chloasma)


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But the stubborn me stops after taking the pills for a few days because of few side effects they have on me. And I began to feel depress out of it. After I stop taking it, I feel I’m back to the normal me. But all of the sudden, my heavy flow bleeding starts again. So I called up the doctor instead on Tuesday morning, asking if there’s any other method that I could try or any other prescription that he could give me. A simple “NO” – there’s no other medicine than that pill; and another “NO” – for I could not stop the medication at all, if not the bleeding would occur over and over again.


And what if I don’t take the medication at all?
“Then I need to send you for a surgery to clean your vagina in which the bleeding occurs… That would cost you thousands and NO it won’t stop your bleeding. Just a clean up so that there won’t be any infection in your vagina caused by prolong bleeding.”

20 comments:

  1. amik je la those pills...toksah nak ngengada...lepas ni ape pulak? buat blog nak cepat mati haha.

    "And the most common symptoms are weight increase, fatigue and loss of short-term memory, pain and anxiety"

    loss of short-term memory...hurm...bende yg selalu ko ngadu kat aku sejak zaman skolah menengah..time diploma...time aku tido sbelah ko...time kite reminds kenangan pahit which u glad u're forgotten 'bout it.haih...ni satu kenangan pahit yg buat aku ingat selamanye B...... :(

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  2. aku buat blog nk cepat mati kalau dpt premonition like Ben... baru la best.. takat nk ranting here and there psl mati tapi tak mati2 buat pe.. ahaha!

    haih.. i'm quite aware of my short term memory loss.. and how innocent i am right now, coz its not my fault pun.. I am Sorry, sayang.. for forgetting all the stuffy.. even yg happy memories pun i cant remember..

    i wish Danny Crane is here so i could say i suffer from Mad Cow disease lak.. he got short term memory loss jugak LOL! in boston legal je lah :P

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  3. its ok....biar aku jadi tukang pengingat segala memory ko aje...mcm adam sandler dlm 50 first dates! haha

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  4. Have you tried for a second opinion btw? Not to question your doctor's credibility, but it's advisable for you to get another professionals opinion.

    Doctors make mistakes too. In fact, medical malpractice is way up there in the statistics.

    I wish you well nevertheless.

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  5. casperakhimi : sayang ko *hugs*


    Sexy.Chewbacca : nope.. i haven't actually.. the specialist himself cost me RM222.. this month idk yet la dear.. i need to find a new place etc.. too many things to be paid, new house deposit and all..

    i bleed again last tuesday and took the pill back and today it almost stopped.. yes the pill works, but the effects are which i can't bear..

    and thank you for your kind wish, darl :)

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  6. Anonymous11:39 am

    Wahhhhh songgoh meroyan aku bace entry ko yg pjg lebar ini :D.
    Erm aku hanya nk ckp...jgn putus asa..setiap penyakit ade ubatnya...kalau ko kene bergantung pd ubat...just buat. Mana tau, dgn berkat kesabaran ko...Allah akan tolong permudahkan nye. Yg penting ko dah usaha kan? Plz plz plz jgn give up...just make yourself happy dan jgn semakkan kepala terlalu pikir kan sgt k Bella comel? Ko sakit2 pon tetap mantain comelllll ok...tu yg penting ;D

    Aku doakan ko semoga sembuh dan permudahkan segalanya. Aku tau, ramai yg beri ko sokongan especially your family rite? Ko pon kene kuat..ok? takmo nanges2 (BIG HUGS!!!)

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  7. :) thanks hanie.. terpaksa la ko datang puchong bawak aku jalan2.. aahahah! klu tak, aku tak happy :P blueekk!

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  8. be strong. be strong.

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  9. thanks devil :P
    wow, that sounds weird..
    LOL!

    am thanking d devil XD

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  10. therefore i declare myself suffering this also. erm. do i suffer? not really. hehe

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  11. eh min.. ko jgn main2..
    agak2 ade simptom2 g check la sayang :)

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  12. I agree with Chewbacca. I think you should get second opinion too -- and take your meds + get enough rest.

    Feel better hun!

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  13. :) i will.. one of my friend in UK tried acupuncture and evening primrose.. she's getting better after 5 years of those..

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  14. Evening primrose oil (EPO) really works! I take EPO too. It keeps my cycle "normal" dan ade yg kata EPO melambatkan menopause! hehe

    take care ye? :)

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  15. azzu : i just bought some multivitamins last night.. contains all the vitamins and ginseng, royal jelly and evening primerose.. LOL!

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  16. Anonymous5:09 am

    oh. one of my friend do have a same symptom and problem like you.

    she took the medicine and she was tired of the side effect. weight gain and rash mostly. so, she stop taking the medicine and just let the nature take care of it.. up until i'm not sure if she's free with that problem.

    get well anyway. :)

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  17. shahril, thanks for ur kind wishes :)

    yeah, getting tired always for no reason.. -_-"

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  18. Anonymous9:35 pm

    hehehe..new news i got just now..really new..hahahaa

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  19. Anonymous4:38 am

    Hello I have posted simmilar article please check it out. You may find more about hormones.

    http://allnaturalskincaretips.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/hormonail-imbalance-what-harm-it-can-do-to-you/?preview=true&preview_id=123&preview_nonce=7000eeab61

    ReplyDelete