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So many women and men across the world suffer from hormonal imbalances that lead to low energy, increased body fat and zero sex drive.
Here is an amazing story of one woman’s recovery of her energy, health and more!
Before and After
Flash forward 1 year later. I was virtually unrecognizable. My face and body bloated. My workouts no longer gave me muscles and quite frankly no longer did I want to work out. I have been passionate about exercise since my teens. I did not have the same desire or the energy. My hair falling out, my skin dry and dull and aging way too fast. I was only 41. Is this what I have to look forward to? Yup, and it goes downhill from there.
For me, it was not just about looking good in a bikini. I just wanted to get out of bed in the morning and not feel as if I had just run a marathon all night long. I spent years getting 1 full night of sleep for every 7 nights if I was lucky. I could not find a concealer that could even remotely hide the dark and deep circles under my eyes.
As each year passed, my symptoms got worse. While I was able to lose weight over the years, it was a huge struggle and one that I had to almost starve myself to achieve. I gained a belly. I went from a stomach where people would ask me what I did to get the muscles so defined to a stomach that no matter what I did, it remained. Since my body could no longer tone, cellulite became more pronounced. I even saw a little on my arms. Can you imagine cellulite is now what you see on your arms instead of a nice bicep???!!!!!!
In August of 2015, at the age of 47, I said “Enough is enough.!!!!” I cannot control what has happened to my body, my spirit, my mind and what will continue to happen to my body, my spirit, my mind if I do not do something. I refused to live like this any longer!
I researched my symptoms but already knew before I even looked, that I had far too much estrogen, way too little progesterone, virtually no testosterone and a thyroid barely functioning.
I made an appointment with a hormone specialist. This was primarily about hormones and I wanted a Doctor who specialized in this field. I decided on Body Logic MD after much research. They had a great track record, and were local. Can I come today???? I was soooo anxious to have these strange, unwelcome changes validated (meaning, I was not crazy) and assured that these can go away or at least get better.
I had to wait until October. You see, it’s all very scientific. I had to wait until the paperwork for the blood tests was sent and wait for the box full of vials to collect my urine and then wait……for another month to time it with my monthly cycle. Even at 48, my cycle comes like clockwork, almost to the exact day each month. In the chaos of everything else wrong in my body, fortunately it did not affect my period. Ladies, never wish for your period to stop! When it stops, you stop. If are not doing anything to replace the lost hormones, you will rapidly age.
I must digress a moment to also mention I completed a background on my health to include my supplements/vitamins/prescriptions, surgeries, activity level, sleep activity, stress activity, sexual activity, overall feelings, etc….It took me 2 hours.
I was counting down the days till my appointment. Finally the day arrived. I meet Dr. Negrin. I immediately feel at ease. Here is someone who not only gets what is happening to me but has the answers to help me.
For the next hour, Dr. Negrin is all mine and I am all hers. I tell her upfront what I believe to be wrong with me and why. Of course, she has already reviewed my file, my background, and my labs and knows exactly what is wrong with me. She smiles and says “You know your body!”
What I was not prepared for were the additional issues. I was correct, I had too much estrogen but….estrogen of the kind that causes cancer and I had a boatload of it. Next, I had almost no progesterone. I called that one. This hormone is what helps balance out the estrogen. This became our biggest obstacle and priority over everything has that was wrong with me. The “BIG C” was not something I expected to hear. Cancer, me???? Fortunately, Dr. Negrin was aggressive and after my next appointment approx 3 months later, this was now in a normal range and has remained so. I am one of the lucky ones!
Next, we talk about a hormone called Pregnenolone. What on earth is that? This apparently is referred to as the “Mother hormone” and I depleted that because it was so busy trying to fix everything else.
Testosterone. Yes, ladies (and gents) women NEED Testosterone. It is what gives us energy, muscle and drives our sexuality. Yes, we are talking SEX!!!!! And I cannot capitalize, emphasize, predicate, and shout it enough. I like sex. Always have. But somewhere down the line, my drive to have it became less. Still enjoyed it but I wanted to be the one to initiate it. Know what I mean?!!!!! My testosterone reading was a 7 when it should have been at least a 30 for a woman my age. We are still tweaking this and I recently went from the cream to a pellet surgically inserted into a butt cheek. I already feel the difference in my energy and my muscle definition. Sex, well its coming….
I was anxious to hear about my thyroid. I had suspected an issue with my thyroid for quite a few years. It was actually worse than I suspected. Not entirely dead, but basically. We have had to increase the dosage on this each time and I now believe I am on the correct dosage. I have nails. I have entire eyebrows. I am not always cold. I sleep through the night. I lost weight. In one year, 20 lbs. My belly has muscles again!!!
The other issues I found out concerned trace minerals and vitamins that were dangerously low. I had no iron, no zinc, and no magnesium. Dr. Negrin then proceeded tell me that the acid reflux pills that I had been on for approx. 4 years, had not only killed the acid, it killed everything else. I recall her saying, “How do you get out of bed?” “How are you taking kick boxing and doing Karate and playing tennis?” “How do you not get sick with colds, sore throats, etc?” I replied “It takes every part of my being and my drive to be this active.” She then asked me to “wean” myself off of the pills. I went home and found the nearest trash can and have not taken an acid reflux pill since. That pill was replaced with a natural probiotic. It worked!!!! It did take 6 months for my labs to show a normal reading for these minerals but I had so depleted my body, it did not know how to absorb or process these good things.
So, here we are, it’s approximately 1 year later, my life has changed. I would be remiss if I did not mention I started doing Karate a few months before I started hormone replacement and this has greatly helped with my memory (and my patience). I started kickboxing in December of last year which has also helped greatly improve my physique. I do both Karate and Kick boxing at Champion Karate in Lake Mary and highly recommend this studio.
I do kickboxing almost every day and even teach the occasional kick box class. I want to! My body has completely changed. I have indentions on the side of my buttocks. I have muscle definition throughout my body. It is a very intense workout. It has also helped with my weight loss. BUT, and I do mean BUT, without the hormone replacement, my results would be significantly less. How do you gain muscle if you have no testosterone? How do you lose weight if you have no testosterone and a non-working thyroid? You don’t.
I have great skin, great hair, great nails, and great eyebrows. My friends ask me what I am doing. This is not a secret. I tell them. I encourage them.
I am most thrilled with the energy I have. I just ran the Savage Race in mid-October. That’s almost an 11 kilometer, 27 obstacle course. I ran it. I completed 23 of the 27 obstacles. Even wanting and desiring to do this before I started hormone replacement, I would not have. I could not have. There just would not have been enough energy or the strength.
I sleep EVERY night and the whole night. It’s rare that I get up and cannot fall back asleep. My mind is clearer. I remember more.
I decided to do this article because I wanted women to know they do not have to live life in a fog. It’s not a secret. I want every woman to feel like I do. To truly be the best that they can be with a body and a mind they can now control. Of course, diet and exercise play a part and Dr. Negrin encourages both. I cannot say enough about Body Logic MD and Dr. Jennifer Negrin.
In short, growing old gracefully? Not if it means not sleeping, having to starve to keep weight down, potentially breaking bones and injuring tendons, no energy to even get out of bed, not remembering, hair falling out by the handful ….that’s not graceful.
With Bio-Identical hormones, it’s still you but a better you!!!!!”
For more information about Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, please visit BodyLogicMD.com or call 888-692-7116 for more info!
