Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Hormone Fluctuations and Natural Help

Well, Boot camp was definitely a great change for me. I have maintained in the low 120s ever since and felt very beautiful at my ten year highschool reunion. (AAA! I JUST DATED MYSELF! haha...) Anyway, now we are on to bigger and better issues: HORMONES IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER GIVING BIRTH!

After giving birth in January to my first child, I felt AMAZING! I had been terrified of getting post-partum depression; but instead I felt better than ever. I was baking bread, breastfeeding, working out, waking up ass-early to go to boot camp (haha), training other people, etc etc etc the list went on and on. At some point, around the seven month mark, something changed. I had quit breastfeeding and the OBGYN prescribed me a low-dose birth control pill.

Now I know I said I would NEVER take birth control again after what we went through to get Dawson (a miscarriage followed by eight months of infertility treatments - talk about CRAZY HORMONES!!!!). I don't know why I took it. I just did. Around that same time is when my mood began changing. Finally after a month or two I called the doctor and we did some bloodwork. Long story short, I had an adverse reaction to the hormones in the birth control. Rather than levelling out my hormones, they shot through the ROOF! Needless to say that can make you feel crazy as a loon.

The doctor's first solution is always more drugs - and God bless them, they are just trying to help. I asked for a natural fix first. We talked about a body cleanse - which is different from a detox I have explained in earlier posts. A cleanse runs through different body systems focusing on a few major organs like the colon, liver, kidneys, and lungs. In order to do a full cleanse, for at least 21 DAYS you have to rid your life of what are referred to as the "Big Five:"

1. Caffeine (coffee, chocolate, etc.)
2. Alcohol (drinking and cooking)
3. Animal Protein (meat and dairy)
4. Sugar (refined - fruit is okay)
5. Gluten (MOST CARBS! NO!!!!!!!)

I have a nine month old who just woke up, so I will continue this information later (NAP TIME!). Before I go, I also want to mention one of the other important things. You really need to buy bags of lemons. First thing in the morning you drink the juice of one lemon mixed with at least 8 ounces of warm/hot water. This was explained to me as being like "a shower for your insides." I will return with some more tips for a most successful cleanse as well as some of the best resources I have come across. This stuff is no joke and can help anyone with lots of different life issues - not just hormones.

Be back soon.


Disclaimer & Resource Information