It could fall on you!

Six months ago I had an appointment to review my bio-identical hormone levels after a saliva test. I was feeling pretty good in general so I wasn’t looking for any changes. Of course I’m always searching for tweaks that could help in the ongoing battle of weight loss, but who knows for sure how or if hormones demonstrably impact weight since there are at least a million variables involved in weight control.

It was determined by the saliva test that a slight reduction in progesterone as well as a minor adjustment to my estrogen level – raising one and reducing another – might improve my overall satisfaction level even more so we decided to try it.

Over the course of the next week I noticed two things. My face began to break out in localized but fairly significant blemishes and I started to experience massive power surges at the drop of a hat. Being the genuine trooper that I am I decided to give it a few weeks to see if things would settle down. They didn’t.

So in a few short weeks I went from feeling fine to being a 50-something acne case with a built in heat wave guaranteed to have me dripping sweat within seconds of experiencing the tiniest bit of stress. One morning while getting ready for work I grabbed my manicure scissors to cut the tag off my new blouse. The first cut did not do the trick so I had to make one more cut. Between the first and second cut I experienced a sudden whoosh of heat followed immediately by the feeling of sweat appearing on and dripping off of my face. It was mid-morning before my clothes stopped feeling squishy.

Something had to be done. I contacted my health care advisor and she suggested that the acne was probably occurring because I was actually taking more DHEA than I needed. She suggested I cut back and give it a few weeks to clear out of my system. As far as the power surges went she suggested I try a few things on my own.

A few more weeks went by without improvement. Now I was starting to worry about offending co-workers – I mean you can’t smell as fresh as a rose after one of those power surges. And during one key business week I sported an enormous zit on the end of my nose. It was time to rethink this dilemma. At this point we had to assume that the DHEA had not been responsible for my acne. My advisor suggested that we try another solution, to reduce my testosterone by half since it has been known to cause acne.

I was reluctant since my pre-menopausal blood tests had revealed that my natural body chemistry consisted of an elevated level of testosterone. I was concerned that a lower amount would alter my personality. I also commented that I’d been taking testosterone for years and had only recently experienced this acne problem. My advisor assured me that our need for a particular hormone can suddenly change for no apparent reason. So we tried lowering my testosterone. And it still didn’t work.

At this point as a card carrying control freak I was going berserk. I’d had enough of the Clearasil and I wanted to move on with my life. So I agreed to let them take me off testosterone completely.

Right away my face stopped breaking out and my power surges dwindled to a negligible amount. That was a pleasant surprise.

Not being one to ever let anything alone I felt compelled to analyze what had occurred and I believe I have figured it out. My testosterone level was just fine until I changed the progesterone and/or the estrogen one or both of which changed my need for testosterone.

No one told me this and I cannot back it up with scientific data – just personal experience. I messed with the hormonal house of cards and it fell on me. Thankfully there were no permanent casualties – just a lot of unnecessary inconvenience.