'Adios Amigos', part 2

* I am not a doctor, or a medical professional. None of what is contained in this blog post is medical advice, but simply my personal experience.

I started this post with Part 1 here. Make sure you catch up before you continue this post! It'll give more background as to why I said "Adios Amigos" to Western Medicine when it comes to my "hormone issues"

To recap, my symptoms at this point in time (end of June) included:

• Anxiety

• Difficulty concentrating

• Fatigue

• Acne on Face

• Frequent Bowel Movements

• Enlarged Lymph Nodes

• Hair Loss

• Dry, Brittle Hair

• Heat Intolerance

• Increased Appetite

• Weight Gain

• Increased Sweating, Hot Flashes, Night Sweats

• Heavy, Painful Periods

• Nail Changes (flaking, thickness)

• Nervousness

• Pounding or Racing Heartbeat, Palpitations

• Restlessness

• Sleep Problems

• Faintness When Raising Arms/Hands ( I can't French-braid my hair without taking multiple breaks)

• Itchy/Irritated Eyes

• Itchy Skin

• Itchy Ears

• Skin Rashes on Shins

• Weakness in Hips & Shoulders

• Awful Body Odour

• Oily Hair

• Flaky Scalp

• Low/No Libido

• Dryness & Pain/Pressure During Intercourse

• Atrophic Vaginitis (thinning, drying, inflammation of vaginal tissues & pubic area - yes, my skin would be ripped off during a waxing)

• Cherry Angiomas

• Low Blood Pressure

Cherry Angiomas

What a weird heading. What even are cherry angiomas? I know... kinda strange to lead into things like this.

You will see "increasing number of cherry angiomas" listed above. When you look up cherry angiomas (CA) on the internet, you get a simple explanation such as: Cherry angiomas are fairly common skin growths that vary in size. They can occur almost anywhere on the body, but usually develop on the trunk. They are most common after age 30. The cause is unknown, but they tend to be inherited (genetic)." Source.

When you look up cherry angiomas on a site with a more holistic focus, you'll see something like this: "evidence shows that angiomas form due to hormonal changes in many cases, such as increased levels of estrogen during puberty or pregnancy. They've also been found to develop in patients with liver damage or liver disease." Source.

Hmm. So they appear to be linked to hormones... Interesting.

My GP Appointment

As I had started in my previous post, I was preparing for an appointment with my GP, expecting to go through my bloodwork and see what the underlying issue might be.

As I prepared, I listed my symptoms (above), I researched cherry angiomas, I dug into my bloodwork, I talked to family. Here's what I found:

Cherry Angiomas: Cherry angiomas, as eluded to above, are closely tied to liver toxicity. It so happens that estrogen dominance often leads to liver toxicity. The estrogen filters through the liver, increasing the liver's toxic load. As a result, cherry angiomas form.

Bloodwork: As I looked at my bloodwork, I noticed not only my estrogen was high, but my Free T4 and TSH were on the edges of the "normal" range. Free T4 would be considered Low Normal, and TSH High Normal. I consulted my research and found this: A high TSH and low thyroid hormone level (e.g. low FT4) can indicate primary hypothyroidism. Primary hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland makes too little thyroid hormone. Symptoms of hypothyroidism can include feeling cold, constipation, weight gain, slowed thinking, and decreased energy. Source.

After I had had a coworker reach out regarding my symptoms and her experience with her thyroid, I asked her to chat a bit. She gets her bloodwork done every three weeks to ensure her levels are optimal for her functioning. She said when her levels are "normal" is when she feels awful and knows she needs to adjust her medication.

So maybe everyone's "baseline" is different after all... Spoiler Alert: my doctor 1000% dismissed this idea.

Family History

During all this time, I had obviously been talking to my mom. She knew from the get-go that I had some sort of hormone imbalance. As my symptoms progressed, she said that it all sounded like her experience when before she identified a thyroid issue. Here's my family history of hormonal/thyroid issues:

• My mom has been dealing with thyroid disease for over 15 years.

• My paternal grandmother had her thyroid removed because of its impact on her health

• There are hormone and fertility issues in my father's paternal extended family.

My Thyroid

Of the symptoms listed above, 27/31 of them could be symptoms of hypothyroidism. My family history points to potentially some sort of tie to the thyroid. I started to do a little looking into thyroid disease and how that presents, and ways to treat it.

Leaving in Tears

To say I was disappointed and frustrated after my appointment with my GP is an understatement. I didn't feel heard. I was told this is pretty normal and sometimes it takes 3, even 6 months for the body to balance out after stopping birth control. My symptoms had been going on for 6 months, and had only worsened lately rather than improved. It was impacting my life in more than just my physical health. I was so self-conscious. I wasn't going out of the house as often as usual. I refused to wear my hair up without a thick headband because my hairline was so sparse. I was starting to starve myself (Oh hello, Eating Disorder. Not nice to see you again.) because I was gaining weight for seemingly no reason. I was not sleeping due to night sweats and restlessness. I wasn't intimate with Hubs.

My doctor had no answers. She dismissed my question about my thyroid without thought. No discussion, full stop. She said my bloodwork was "normal" so there is absolutely no reason to follow that idea. She dismissed the idea of a variance of "normal" for individual bodies. Her only suggestions were to go back on birth control or wait it out and the issue will show itself eventually. Let's just say, that's not what I was hoping to hear.

Taking Things Into My Own Hands

I left that appointment frustrated but also focused on advocating for myself and taking my health into my own hands. I am a firm believer in root cause medicine. Treating the symptoms is a bandaid. That's it. Finding the cause of the symptoms is how to actually treat the issue and eliminate the symptoms all together.

My gut lead me back to my thyroid. I found that iodine has a direct impact on our thyroid function. Iodine is largely stripped from the foods we eat today, much like many other minerals and nutrients vital to our health.

I found nutritional grade iodine from Fresh Kelp at our local health food store and decided to give it a go. It's natural, and taken in small doses, so it can't do anymore harm than what's already happening. The bottle was not expensive either ($16.99 for 50 mL or 1,515 doses) and I was willing to try it after spending hundreds already on different treatments and supplements.

See the results here.