the M word

San Diego Boudoir Photographer Let me tell you about a little something called menopause…and hang in there as there is a happy ending to all this madness! 🙂 That little thing that no one talks about…at least no one in my world. I am older than most of my friends so they aren’t talking about it…at least not yet. That little thing that turns out to be sneaky #1, and a BIG deal for most women. My previous doctor misled me into thinking I hadn’t started it yet and it slowly crept up on me. I didn’t realize I was going through it until major shifts started happening….

I started to gain weight – This was slow at first, but more on this later :-/

Losing my hair – Many who know me know that I went from being a brunette to blonde back in December. I noticed hair loss at the time and chalked it up to the bleaching process. However I started to notice it was full length strands, and larger clumps than normal started coming out while shampooing, which was quite alarming.

HOT Flashes – these became so out of control, I could barely sleep and basically uncomfortable in my own skin.

I completely flatlined – Motivation, libido, emotions all left the building. I was unmotivated to do anything about anything and was getting worse day by day. The only thing I was probably feeling and embracing {unfortunately} was uncontrollable depression.

I did not feel like myself anymore

So while experiencing all of these things starting (without having answers yet), I traveled to Bali in March and got really sick with what’s called Bali Belly, a bacterial and parisitic infection. Because of this I had to take 2 very strong antibiotics as well as heavy anti-D medications. The anti-biotics themselves made me really sick with their strength and side effects caused from food interactions (I tend to be pretty sensitive to meds). I finally started to feel somewhat better by the time I returned home from the trip, and I happened to lose some of that extra weight throughout this process. Bonus! Not so fast….

Then the cravings started kicking in and I was eating everything in sight. My body was telling me I couldn’t get enough. I quickly gained 15-20 lbs above and beyond my regular weight in just a few weeks and the depression got worse. It’s just such a vicious cycle! I physically started to feel very uncomfortable in my upper GI and I didn’t understand why I felt so distended and looked 3 months pregnant, until I woke up in so much pain that it required hospitalization….2 days in a row! Embarrassingly, it turned out to be extreme constipation (close to a blockage) from all the anti-D medications that I had to take. I had absolutely no idea (and a hard time believing initially) that constipation could cause that much pain. On the surface, I began to break out in chronic hives and angioedema daily and I finally just put my foot down to get to the bottom of everything…

I’ve always felt like I was pretty in-tune with my body, but I DID NOT understand what the heck was going on. It feels like I’ve visited a lot of doctors and clinics this year but I’m finally getting answers and solutions.

Get your hormone levels checked – If you feel off and your doctor is claiming perimenopause, still do this test!I can’t recommend this enough, and I personally went to a functional medicine doctor who specializes in this. My numbers were all in the super low range.

Test your thyroid levels – My thyroid 100% crapped out. Like decided it didn’t wanna work anymore and you need this to regulate your hormone levels as well as keeping a healthy digestive system and metabolism.

This is where I started to realize the snowball effect and how my hormone & thyroid deficiency and sudden terrible gut health was affecting other cycles within my body. It was a crazy cytokine storm!!

Hormone Replacement Therapy – This is 100% a personal decision for each woman but I decided it was best for me. There are many options out there to choose from so find someone who really listens to you and knows exactly what you need to bring your numbers back where they need to be.

Do colonics, lymphatic drainage, and IR Therapy – This was my 1st experience and I highly recommend all of it! I am slowly rebuilding my gut health and can now start a proper healing process without all the junk in the way.

Get rid of the processed food and eat organic – I’ve always considered myself a good eater, but I started incorporating even more freshly prepared meals, raw fruits + veggies.

Educate yourself on ingredients – Read the labels. You’d be surprised what’s really in that favorite salad dressing! And obviously going out to eat is a gamble, but I’ve found the more I’m healing my gut I can embrace those times and still have some sweet treats too!

Educate yourself on hormone disruptors – This is everything from micro-plastics, candles, and even the perfumes that we wear.

Grounding – I decided to try earthing, a technique some people use to connect their physical bodies to the earth’s electrical energy. The Earth has a negative electric charge and there is a transfer of free electrons to the human body that leads to various physical effects. This can include pain reduction, changes in immune response, wound healing, effects on inflammation, and possible prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory conditions.

Heal the gut – Good health in your microbiome is connected to everything in your body, including hormonal balance. I did a lot of personal research and found great information to start the healing process. This might be different for each person in regards to what supplements to take so just listen to your body and supplement based upon what you may be missing (daily pro-biotics, iodine for the thyroid, etc). I also started taking bovine-sourced colustrum daily and changed over to a mushroom coffee, and bonus the hair is growing back!

Sooo….the light at the end of the tunnel is that I can now say I am slowly turning back into myself. Things are still averaging out. The best advice I can give (on top of finding the right doctors) is patience + grace with yourself. When you don’t have control over your body it’s a very frustrating process, even waiting on the tests. Clear your time up to give yourself rest and meditative time. Talk to your family, your people. The more that women talk about this process the more we’ll know and can pass it along. I am normally a very private person, but I truly hope sharing my experience will help others.

Much love + cheers to the ladies!

Shannon