So my hormones I think are an issues that I have never really addressed - successfully. In the beginning (the beginning being coming down with Lyme Disease unbeknownst to me), I would notice cycles of mood swings. As time when on there has been a pattern. 14 days before my period starts, I get really tired, all day long, and I get pains in my abdomen. I get so tired that I basically sleep all day and all night With some waking hours of getting my kids off to school, and getting them dinner (pizza), making them do their homework and getting them to bed before I collapse again. So that is Day 14.
Day 10 - I start to feel depressed in the evening. Between 5-6pm and then it fades away around 8 or 9pm. So that happened today. My husband came home from grocery shopping for me, and he looked in my eyes and said "What is wrong". I said, "I am having depression". And then I went and looked at my daily journal and sure enough, 10 days before my period last month, I had the same episode of evening depression feeling that would go away.
Soooo. Why haven't I done anything about it? Well I have and haven't. Firstly, I took an estrovan pill in the beginning (when all hell was breaking lose in my body and I thought my hormones were WAY out of wack...hot flashes in the middle of the day, mood swings, just not myself) and it sent me into sobbing fits that whole night. I really worried our overnight guest who was staying with us and decided NEVER to take estrovan again. So then I turned to wondering about progesterone and read all about perimenopause and figured that is what I must be having.
Long story short, when hell upon hell broke loose, I finally went to see a Dr. and he ran some tests. And then a year later or so ran more tests (Lyme, Babesia and Bartonella were not yet on the radar). One of the tests said I had low progesterone so he gave me some progesterone drops. I think because I was trying other vitamins and things for my anxiety and symptoms, I didn't end of taking the drops and then they expired. A year or so later, yes, a year, I bought some progesterone cream from the health food store. It was a brand recommended by the John Lee (perimenopause doctor) website. I put a little on. OMG. OMG(osh)! I was flat out - energiless, major depressed in bed for 2 DAYS STRAIGHT! I never wanted to touch the stuff again. Still didn't know I had Lyme and Co. at the time.
So now I have treated Bartonella. Lyme and Babesia and possibly parasites are still in the picture. I have read several times that Babesia interferes with hormones and that Lyme patients often are low in progesterone. So I should either talk to my doctor here locally about it or talk to my LLND about at my appointment next week. Maybe I should get those drops and see how I go with adding them in.
I don't know though. I don't want to add in tons of things at once. The way I work is steady and slow and methodic. So I know what med or vitamin causes what reaction. So it has to be spaced out. I could continue this month with trying a progesterone. See how that makes me feel. I just don't want to wait for the other treatments either. Its kind of one of those things that I would want to wait 3 months to see how it works. And for parasite treatment. I would want to wait 3 months and see how THAT makes me feel. And likewise with Babesia Treatment. If I start all at once. Who knows whats going on? Who knows what is making me feel better or worse. What is a herx and what is a reaction to a hormone. I have to think this out and I guess I am thinking it out here. But it is good to note regardless. Just to have a record of where I am at today...hormonally speaking.
And the good news is. Because I take notes. I don't have to be scared of the depression because I know I get it every month near this day, in the evening, and it will past. Not like the major depression of the past that would linger and linger and linger.
All is well. Times are good. I am able to focus on the more minor nuances of this disease because that BIG BAD BARTONELLA is out of the way and so many times I speak out how grateful I am for that.
So grateful!
PS - I am going to add DAY 10 Hormone check to my list!
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