The Truth About Imbalanced Hormones
I read Laura's article on pelvic pain during pregnancy. I then read the article it referred to. Then I realized where my hip pain (hip popping and sciatica) originates. It comes from the same problem that caused me to have PCOS for awhile, which was caused by my Insuline Resistance.
I'll just do this chronologically and experiencially.
When I was about 5, I had my first experience with sciatica - my left big toe froze up and my whole leg, clear up through my rear end, hurt - badly. It was a shooting pain beyond belief. It took several minutes for me to be able to relax my leg, then my foot, and finally my big toe. I've periodically experienced this throughout my life, always in my left big toe, excepting once in my right big toe.
When I was about 9, my weight went out of control. No one knew why, no one cared - I was just doomed to be fat because I was a piggish slob who ate all the time, blah blah. No one knew it then, but I was showing a lot of symptoms of insulin resistance (eating high-carb/fatty foods all day and late into the night/early morning because of being hungry when there was no reason to be hungry was just one, but there were others as well). Yes, I was depressed as well, and emotionally ate. But there WAS more to it than just that. I was diagnosed with insulin resistance at age 30.
When I was 15, my left hip started popping and grinding for no apparent reason at all. It's been like that semi-regularly ever since. I've been told that chiropractic treatments would help. Been there, done that, it didn't do any good.
When I was 17, I noted just how "unfeminine" I felt compared to the girls around me. No, I'm not homosexual or anything (that crack about convents taking in lesbians was just that - a joke). But I realized, painfully, how different I felt compared to them. The girls I knew in my grade in school just wanted to get married and have babies. I wanted the attention/love that such a lifestyle would provide, but I didn't have a DRIVE towards the REALITIES of marriage, sex, kids, etc. In fact, I still struggle with that (hence the joke about convents and lesbians). My female classmates DID have that drive. I wanted a career - mainly, so I could move away from my parents forever. To me, this was a masculine thing, as apposed to the "arm candy/baby machine" approach to life that some of my female classmates seemed to have. I remember telling some friends that my hormones were imbalanced. They just glared at me. I had no idea how right I really was though...
What caught my attention while reading this article was how, when I was 24, I was diagnosed with PCOS. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome/Disease (it's called either a syndrome or a disease, depending on which doctor you ask). I was imediately put on birth-control pills because of the hormone-regulation they provide (apparently, this treatment is hardly practiced anymore). (Just so you know folks, birth control being made available DOES NOT make a person want to have sex just because "they can," if they have already made up their mind to wait until marriage - I'm living proof of that. This is why I'm all for a mixture of good and Godly sex/relationship education AND the provision of birth control for those teens who sincerly just don't want to wait, even after going through some version of counciling regarding the matter. It's not about what message your sending about sex being "ok" - you don't make that decision for them. They HAVE to make that choice for themselves after being presented with the facts.)
Anyway, those hormone pills were NOT the "easy-does-it generic" kind. They were THE REAL THING, in all it's pumped up hormonic glory! My cycle immediately snapped to attention (I was at exactly 28 days every month for the whole year), and I started going through some weird things. First of all, I got sick ALL the time - I was either having diareah or I was throwing up. For a whole year, until I just quit taking the pills on my own, due to how my life had gone down the tubes as a result of this. Secondly, I was tired - ALL the time. Not just from the fact that I couldn't hold food in me long enough to benefit from it. I was groggy/sleepy 24/7. Third, I actually noticed that I had a sex-drive (I'd never really realized this before) because it went all wacko on me. No, sex itself was NOT a temptation. But a person's body does have ways of letting that person know what (or who) it so desires OR DOESN'T, and when, which was something I had to get used to and realize what was causing that. I don't even remember all the things I went through anymore, only that it was hell. But I do remember being told "what you are experiencing is a LOT like pregnancy, minus the baby." During the year that I took the pills, I don't recal how my hip was affected. It wasn't on my mind to worry about that at the time.
After I quit taking those pills, these symptoms started to fade, and a year later, I was back to being myself. Three years later, I was back to having irregular periods. It's been six years since I quit taking those pills, and everything is right back to where it was when I was diagnosed with PCOS - excepting that I've had the diagnosis REVERSED by my local endocrynologist (after 9 blood samples were taken from me and a long panel of tests were run on them). I was however diagnosed with insuline resistance at the same time. The thing is that insuline resistance tends to be a real problem with women who have PCOS. The two are related. While my hormones "passed the test" for PCOS last February, I still have the problem that seems to have caused the PCOS in the first place.
What does this have to do with my hip? I'm no doctor, please don't assume this is some kind of medical advice. It's not - go see your health care provider, etc. But seriousely, I'm pretty much convinced that hormones are a big deal. They affect a person's body in ways they aren't aware of until they get screwed around with, either through imbalance, pills or pregnancy. No, I don't have the particular pelvic pain that Laura is experiencing as her body prepares to give birth, though I will admit that I've had something that sounds a lot like it on two or three occasions in the past. But this article helped me to realize that what I'm dealing with in my left hip just may be a result of my hormones being all "wrong" (for a woman who's not pregnant).
No, I have no desire to go back on those pills. God help me, what a nightmare that was! But this is just further encouragement to continue treating the insulin resistance that caused my PCOS in the first place, which I'll admit, I've been a bit lax on lately. It's really NOT easy to get used to taking a pill every day, eating tons of egg-whites, tofu, low-carb/fat vegie-meats AND, AND ANDDDDDD.... hardly any carbs at alL. <-- That sentance is how I feel after being on this diet. I did alright for the first month or so, but after that, I just couldn't take it anymore. The smell of eggs almost makes me want to hurl. I'm doing better with the tofu (yay for cocoa-tofu smoothies!), and I'm fairly sick of all vegie-meats at this point. I WANT my carbs! I WANT bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta! I LOVE fruits! It's not that I can't have any of these at all (it's unhealthy to go completely bust), but the tiny amounts I CAN have almost aren't worth it. However, having my left hip go back to normal, if that's possible and if what I suspect about this is true.. That just MIGHT make it worth the effort. Of course, losing weight wouldn't kill me either, but seriousely, I'm at a point where I really just DON'T care about that anymore.
I'll just do this chronologically and experiencially.
When I was about 5, I had my first experience with sciatica - my left big toe froze up and my whole leg, clear up through my rear end, hurt - badly. It was a shooting pain beyond belief. It took several minutes for me to be able to relax my leg, then my foot, and finally my big toe. I've periodically experienced this throughout my life, always in my left big toe, excepting once in my right big toe.
When I was about 9, my weight went out of control. No one knew why, no one cared - I was just doomed to be fat because I was a piggish slob who ate all the time, blah blah. No one knew it then, but I was showing a lot of symptoms of insulin resistance (eating high-carb/fatty foods all day and late into the night/early morning because of being hungry when there was no reason to be hungry was just one, but there were others as well). Yes, I was depressed as well, and emotionally ate. But there WAS more to it than just that. I was diagnosed with insulin resistance at age 30.
When I was 15, my left hip started popping and grinding for no apparent reason at all. It's been like that semi-regularly ever since. I've been told that chiropractic treatments would help. Been there, done that, it didn't do any good.
When I was 17, I noted just how "unfeminine" I felt compared to the girls around me. No, I'm not homosexual or anything (that crack about convents taking in lesbians was just that - a joke). But I realized, painfully, how different I felt compared to them. The girls I knew in my grade in school just wanted to get married and have babies. I wanted the attention/love that such a lifestyle would provide, but I didn't have a DRIVE towards the REALITIES of marriage, sex, kids, etc. In fact, I still struggle with that (hence the joke about convents and lesbians). My female classmates DID have that drive. I wanted a career - mainly, so I could move away from my parents forever. To me, this was a masculine thing, as apposed to the "arm candy/baby machine" approach to life that some of my female classmates seemed to have. I remember telling some friends that my hormones were imbalanced. They just glared at me. I had no idea how right I really was though...
What caught my attention while reading this article was how, when I was 24, I was diagnosed with PCOS. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome/Disease (it's called either a syndrome or a disease, depending on which doctor you ask). I was imediately put on birth-control pills because of the hormone-regulation they provide (apparently, this treatment is hardly practiced anymore). (Just so you know folks, birth control being made available DOES NOT make a person want to have sex just because "they can," if they have already made up their mind to wait until marriage - I'm living proof of that. This is why I'm all for a mixture of good and Godly sex/relationship education AND the provision of birth control for those teens who sincerly just don't want to wait, even after going through some version of counciling regarding the matter. It's not about what message your sending about sex being "ok" - you don't make that decision for them. They HAVE to make that choice for themselves after being presented with the facts.)
Anyway, those hormone pills were NOT the "easy-does-it generic" kind. They were THE REAL THING, in all it's pumped up hormonic glory! My cycle immediately snapped to attention (I was at exactly 28 days every month for the whole year), and I started going through some weird things. First of all, I got sick ALL the time - I was either having diareah or I was throwing up. For a whole year, until I just quit taking the pills on my own, due to how my life had gone down the tubes as a result of this. Secondly, I was tired - ALL the time. Not just from the fact that I couldn't hold food in me long enough to benefit from it. I was groggy/sleepy 24/7. Third, I actually noticed that I had a sex-drive (I'd never really realized this before) because it went all wacko on me. No, sex itself was NOT a temptation. But a person's body does have ways of letting that person know what (or who) it so desires OR DOESN'T, and when, which was something I had to get used to and realize what was causing that. I don't even remember all the things I went through anymore, only that it was hell. But I do remember being told "what you are experiencing is a LOT like pregnancy, minus the baby." During the year that I took the pills, I don't recal how my hip was affected. It wasn't on my mind to worry about that at the time.
After I quit taking those pills, these symptoms started to fade, and a year later, I was back to being myself. Three years later, I was back to having irregular periods. It's been six years since I quit taking those pills, and everything is right back to where it was when I was diagnosed with PCOS - excepting that I've had the diagnosis REVERSED by my local endocrynologist (after 9 blood samples were taken from me and a long panel of tests were run on them). I was however diagnosed with insuline resistance at the same time. The thing is that insuline resistance tends to be a real problem with women who have PCOS. The two are related. While my hormones "passed the test" for PCOS last February, I still have the problem that seems to have caused the PCOS in the first place.
What does this have to do with my hip? I'm no doctor, please don't assume this is some kind of medical advice. It's not - go see your health care provider, etc. But seriousely, I'm pretty much convinced that hormones are a big deal. They affect a person's body in ways they aren't aware of until they get screwed around with, either through imbalance, pills or pregnancy. No, I don't have the particular pelvic pain that Laura is experiencing as her body prepares to give birth, though I will admit that I've had something that sounds a lot like it on two or three occasions in the past. But this article helped me to realize that what I'm dealing with in my left hip just may be a result of my hormones being all "wrong" (for a woman who's not pregnant).
No, I have no desire to go back on those pills. God help me, what a nightmare that was! But this is just further encouragement to continue treating the insulin resistance that caused my PCOS in the first place, which I'll admit, I've been a bit lax on lately. It's really NOT easy to get used to taking a pill every day, eating tons of egg-whites, tofu, low-carb/fat vegie-meats AND, AND ANDDDDDD.... hardly any carbs at alL. <-- That sentance is how I feel after being on this diet. I did alright for the first month or so, but after that, I just couldn't take it anymore. The smell of eggs almost makes me want to hurl. I'm doing better with the tofu (yay for cocoa-tofu smoothies!), and I'm fairly sick of all vegie-meats at this point. I WANT my carbs! I WANT bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta! I LOVE fruits! It's not that I can't have any of these at all (it's unhealthy to go completely bust), but the tiny amounts I CAN have almost aren't worth it. However, having my left hip go back to normal, if that's possible and if what I suspect about this is true.. That just MIGHT make it worth the effort. Of course, losing weight wouldn't kill me either, but seriousely, I'm at a point where I really just DON'T care about that anymore.
posted by Caroline Talita Ishshah | 3:46 PM
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