my hormones hahahahah!

It all started with bad ugly skin. I've had bad acne for 4 years now. I looked like a 14 year old boy in that awkward, going through puberty stage. I've always had decent skin even when I was going through that awkward puberty stage, until  I stopped taking birth control.... My skin went out of control. In denial I tried several cleansers, skin treatments, and  supplements. Nothing seemed to work.  I admit it has taken quite the tole on my self esteem. I had no idea...

Oh this post is going to personal in a girly kinda way... right now....

It wasn't until I started having crazy periods (read: being on my period almost everyday of the month since oct 2011)

I finally saved enough pennies to go see  a hormone specialist. (literally any change I had at the end of the day as well as extra cash at the end of a pay check went into a piggy bank)  But first I went to a gyno to see if it could be caused by something other than hormones. (I dunno cancer or something crazy scary like that.) She wanted to put me on antidepressants and birth control. No way! I wanted to avoid the birth control at all costs since it feels like that is what got me in this mess in the first place and because I'm a freaky new age hippie that way... And I know I don't have depression.

Anyways back to the hormone specialist. I had never been so excited to go the the dr.....
After spitting into a tube, cracking an egg into a pan, a dash of salt and some chanting to the dark side (jk on the egg, salt and chanting) here are my results.  It feels so good to finally know what is wrong with me and what I can do about it.

The culprit: 
Chronic stress/Adrenal exhaustion (causing my crazy periods)
Too much testosterone (causing my horrible acne) yeah I was basically turning into a man...

Basically my adrenals are fatigued because I am constantly running on adrenalin. You know that stuff that makes it so zebra's can run from a predator. That's how it's supposed to work... But my adrenals are always working overtime because of "chronic unresolved stress".  I'm not running from predators.  I'm facing ongoing stress every moment of every day.

Symptoms, What I was experiencing (most of it I didn't know was even related):
anxiety
acne (crazy bad acne!)
irregular periods (long ongoing never ending periods)
hair loss (it was the worst when I was going through my divorce)
depression (i'm always in denial about this one hehe)
mood swings
fatigue
memory lapse
allergies, especially around my dear cat
cold body temperature
sugar cravings
weight gain

Remedy:
sleep (again all signs point to sleep... you'd think I'd start to get more sleep)
reduce stress and stress management
meditation
supplements
natural balancing hormones
healthful diet (less carbs)
exercise
protein before bed


One week later..............

What I've tried:

Meditation - It's hard to make time for this, and trying to fit it in causes a little stress.

Listening to instrumental music, like an old lady

Going to bed earlier - This still feels impossible for me especially when I'm dating but I went to bed at 11:30 the other night!

Supplements, and prescribed hormones - I'm taking a total of 8 pills every morning with my new stuff and my old multivitamins. It's killing me!

Allowing myself to rest if I feel tired 

Being realistic about how much I can accomplish (my to do lists are so small now! i feel a little lazy)

What I've experienced:
Tired as hell, even after having had 8 hours of sleep the night before. For three or four days I was so incredibly exhausted. By 6pm I felt like I might fall over. I HAD to sleep, and not just a little nap, deep sleep.
I admit at first I started stressing about how to get rid of stress. hahhahaha!
Falling asleep one page into reading my human development book (before and after I started the new hormone therapy)
Having to let go of some things that I would normally do, like photography
Fighting the urge to start new projects

Dr Scoville warned me that I would feel "tired"  in the beginning and to remind myself that, "my adrenals are resting. I'm just resting."

Things I still need/want to do:
Eliminate some stressors that I've been procrastinating. (like filing taxes, wisdom teeth extraction, to name the easiest ones)
Replace stressors with things that make me feel happiest (like the beach, creating art, laughing more, camping, going for walks or jogging)
Yoga
Eating less carbs
Prayer
Get more faith. (Something I have always struggled with. I say "get more" because it's easy to say "have more" but it's another thing to actually do it. how do I have more? where do I get more? how can I find it? where do I get it from? how can I create it? It has to come from somewhere.... how?)