To supplement or not to supplement, that is a topic sure to cause a stir. But for those of us who have already chosen to supplement the more pressing issue becomes finding the right balance.

Six months ago my hormones felt right. I went in for a check up and the recommendation was for a minor shift in the different kinds of estrogen that I was supplementing. Some estrogens are more risky than others and my doctor thought a minor change could lower my risk even further. That made perfect sense so we went ahead and changed my bio-identical troche to reflect that decision.

A week or so later there was a big zit on my face. That’s always a big red flag for me. Almost as soon as it went away there was another one on the other side of my face. Now it really had my attention. Blemishes have always been a signal that my hormones might need adjusting. Let’s face it, at my age I shouldn’t have to be clipping Clearasil coupons.

I figured I’d give things a chance to stabilize. Sometimes even subtle changes are disruptive to our delicate bodily eco-system and given a little time they adjust themselves. Not this time. My face was in a constant state of breakout in one area or another. At one point I even had an eye crosser on the tip of my nose. That thing had its own zip code. Naturally that was the day I had a meeting with some folks I was hoping to impress with my urbane sophistication. You try being impressive with a big red lump on your nose.

As I continued to monitor my garden of facial delights I began to observe other unusual phenomena. I was feeling a bit down. For no apparent reason I was kind of depressed for two or three days. That’s just not me. And on those rare days when I do feel a bit low I find a way to fix it – pronto. This time nothing was working.

The final kicker was a gradual slide into what can best be described as full-on PMS (and since I’d had a hysterectomy several years ago I knew feeling those old familiar feelings meant trouble). Everyone was annoying, everyone was out to get me. As I applied my mascara in the morning I plotted my revenge on each and every one of them. Luckily I was too tired to do much about it. Wow, déjà vu in spades. That was the final straw.

After three months we reevaluated and readjusted the hormone balance – just slightly. It’s been about a week and it’s already helping. I’m looking forward to a more serene fall. Ironically, it hadn’t even been the hormones causing the blemishes or the exhaustion, but with adjustments to my DHEA and some support for my adrenal glands I’m back to viewing life through rose colored glasses!

I guess the moral of the story is that it’s really important to keep checking for the right balance of hormones even if it occasionally means taking a somewhat bumpy detour.