It's been a while again, time for an update.
In my last post I talked about some health stuff (hemochromatosis, fatigue, perimenopause) and I have updates to all of that. On the blod iron levels: had my blood drawn again the middle of September and my iron levels had decreased a little. They are in the "normal" range now (albeit the high end). So doc wants me to stay on the iron free vitamin and recheck levels again in 6 months. He thinks the high iron levels are environmental and that my body just can't process excess dietary iron.
On the perimenopause front: I saw my GYN and had labs drawn. My estrogen and progesterone levels are TANKED. So freaking low. She thinks that doing hormone replacement will definitely make me feel better. Problem - estrogen patches are on a nation wide shortage and getting them is next to impossible. So she prescribed me progesterone and estrogen pills. Cool. Started that. And then something shitty happened - I was thrown into an immediate depressive episode with crazy irritability. I figured my body just had to get used to having hormones again. And then my sleep started to get worse. I'd wake up around 1:30 in the morning and not be able to go back to sleep. Which compounded the depression and irritability. Doc and I agreed that estrogen pills probably aren't the right choice for me. The patches are better tolerated with less side effects . . . but again, nation wide shortage. I stopped the hormones and felt back to normal within 2 days (except for my sleep - that took over a week to even out). So now doc wants me to try taking just the progesterone pills and see how I feel after a week or so. Last night was my 3rd progesterone pill by itself and my sleep is slightly better (it's supposed to help with sleep). I take it right before bed because it can cause drowsiness. Cool. It'll help me sleep. But it can also cause dizziness. I figured that since I was taking it before bed, if I felt dizzy it would be when I'm sleeping. No big deal. Well, this morning when I woke up I woke up dizzy. Not real bad - not bad enough that I couldn't shower and whatnot - but it's there. It's still there, several hours later. So we'll see how the rest of this week goes but if I'm staying dizzy then this will be a no go as well. Which is a bummer. I was really hoping to start feeling better. Ugh.
In other news, In August I decided that I wanted to lose 20 pounds by May. That's roughly a half a pound a week. Pretty doable, right? WRONG. I was off to a good start, lost 5 pounds in 6 weeks. And then all this hormone crap was going on and I gained it back. I wasn't exercising because I felt like crap and had lost all of my motivation. I was exhausted from only sleeping 2-3 hours a night for a month and so my sugar cravings were through the roof (and I often gave in because I needed the energy to make it through the day). So now I'm back to square one which royally sucks. AND THEN, on top of that, I randomly have tendinitis in my right elbow and forearm (tennis elbow). WTF?? For no apparent reason. No repetitive movements, nothing that would obviously cause it. So now I can't lift weights for upper body because I can't grip a weight. It is beyond frustrating. To meet my goal I need to now lose around 3/4 of a pound each week and I have to do it while not lifting weights. Shit. I'm doing PT for the tennis elbow, wearing this dumb little brace thing, but it's thus far not getting better (after 3-4 weeks). I am actually seriously considering going on a GLP-1 again. It's just, The first time I was on one I felt awful. Lightheaded, nauseous, constipated. Constantly. The second time I was on one I was on a very low dose and it didn't really do anything. I need, like, an in-between dose. Something that quiets the food noise, lessens my appetite, but doesn't give me the side effects. But then I think, the first time I was on one I lost 35 pounds. Pretty quickly (4-5 months). When I stopped the GLP-1 I gained the weight back. All of it. Plus an extra 5 pounds. So do I really want to go back on a GLP-1, knowing that if I stop it I'll most likely gain the weight back? Or this time can I do it sustainably, slowly, and then taper off the med so that I don't gain it back? I've worked really hard the past 6 months to overcome my emotional eating and was doing really well until all of the hormone crap. So my habits are better, which is good, and if I can get past this tennis elbow I can lift weights again. Ugh. I just don't know what I want to do.
So that's all really. Hormones and weight loss. What to do, what to do . . .
