I have had so many of you ask about the details with the hormone therapy I’ve been doing, & I’ve wanted to answer ALL your questions. The thing is hormone therapy can be an intricate thing, & I wanted to be as thorough as possible, so hopefully I can help give some insight with this post.
Let me start from the beginning. About 3 years ago I started to put on weight, & excess body fat. My eating hadn’t changed, lifestyle hadn’t changed. I was exercising the same, & really couldn’t explain the change. I also started feeling super lethargic, my sleep was terrible, & was feeling like I was almost blacking out when my HR would get high.
In efforts to get the excess weight off, I increased my exercise, & decreased my caloric intake. I cut out all sugar. I ate as CLEAN as I could. I did everything that I tell my clients to do, & nothing was working for me. In fact, not only was NOTHING working, I was still putting ON weight. At this point, I was tracking every bite, every calorie, & I couldn’t seem to figure out what was happening. I was beyond frustrated.
I went to see my primary care physician to see if he could figure out what was happening. He did some blood work, & found the my blood insulin levels were high. He thought my issue was insulin resistance, & referred me to a dietician, wanting me to try the ketogenic way of eating to help to regulate my blood insulin levels. You can read more about that HERE or HERE You can also read about why I transitioned away from ketogenic eating HERE.
I saw some initial change, a drop in weight, (which I mostly attribute to water weight) & then I sat at the SAME # for a long time. After STRINGENTLY sticking to a keto lifestyle, with no cheating for 10 months, & having the dietician & DR’s I was working with on my eating throw up their hands as to why it wasn’t working for me anymore, I decided keto wasn’t for me.
I wasn’t losing any body fat, or any weight, & I didn’t enjoy the types of foods I was eating. I didn’t see the point in continuing to eat this way, because I didn’t enjoy it, & I felt like it wasn’t benefitting me. During this time, I spoke with a friend who had been seeing a hormone specialist. He had been helping her with bioidentical hormone therapy in efforts to help regulate some of her hormone levels that had become very off.
I decided to go see what he had to say, & determine if hormone therapy might be beneficial to me. The doctor I started seeing was specialized in bioidentical hormone therapy. This type of hormone therapy utilizes manmade compounds that are very similar to hormones the body produces. These hormones are utilized to help regulate imbalances the body has.
I explained to the hormone specialist how frustrated I was with my active lifestyle, my meticulous eating, & my lack of results. I told him I wasn’t looking for a quick fix, but just some answers. He was SO understanding. It gave me a LOT of hope. The specialist informed me that often times individuals who are super active can have imbalances due to their activity levels.
My doctor first had me take a full blood panel. I told him I’d had my blood work done with my primary care doctor, & he informed me that many primary care physicians don’t do a full blood panel in office because of the cost. He also let me know that while many people may fall into the range what might be considered “normal,” they could be at the very high or the very low end of normal, which a doctor would consider normal, but could still be causing symptoms. A lot of doctors won’t treat something that is in the normal range, regardless of where it falls.
Blood panel #1…
A lot of you have asked what specifically I had tested. Looking over my test results, my dr tested : testosterone free and total, free T3, TSH, free T4, DHEAS, progesterone, vitamin D 25-OH, estradiol, & insulin-like growth factor.
So..after having my blood work done with the specialist, this was what my first blood panel showed. Remember this is before I started the hormone therapy: (I’m only showing you the ones that were abnormal)
- testosterone was 240.4 ng/dl (the normal range for premenopausal females is 17.0-93.4)
- free testosterone was 31.48 pg/ml (normal is 1.73-15.85)
- progesterone was 1.7 (should be between .31-1.52)
- vitamin D was 28 (it should be between 30-100)
- blood Insulin was 249 ng/ml (should be between 73-243)
Because insulin is a fat storage hormone, & high testosterone in women can lead to fat storage, the doctor assumed that those factors could be what was causing my body to resist all efforts to decrease body fat. The reason I REALLY liked the doctor I work with is because from the beginning he was very open with me on the fact that the process of hormone therapy is basically a science project. Everyone reacts differently. It takes time, patience, & adjustments along the way. It’s not a quick fix, but it can make a big difference to those who have big imbalances like I had.
My doctor wanted me to try a few different things to start to regulate my hormones. I initially started a T3/T4 thyroid compound, a vitamin D supplement (this one was just from Costco), progesterone, & Metformin. The Metformin was to help control my blood sugar levels, in efforts to decrease my blood insulin. I’m not huge into being dependent on medications, but I was so incredibly frustrated I was pretty much willing to do anything at this point. I was also very set on doing the best I could to eat as well as I could, to be SUPER regular with taking the hormones, & to stick to my workout regimen, so I knew I was giving it my full effort. My dr also stressed the importance of trying to get a good amount of sleep to insure I was allowing my body the repairing & restorative time it needed.
Blood panel #2…6 months later
Six months into the hormone therapy process, my doctor wanted me to get another blood panel to see what had changed, & what we needed to change going forward. This was what my second blood panel showed six months into the hormone therapy:
- testosterone 47.9 (first was 240.4 ng/dl, normal range for premenopausal females is 17.0-93.4)
- free testosterone 4.94 (first was 31.48 pg/ml, normal is 1.73-15.85)
- progesterone 4.37 (first was 1.7, normal is between .31-1.52)
- vitamin D 65.5 (first was 28 should be between 30-100)
- blood Insulin 192 (first was 249 ng/ml, normal is between 73-243)
Everything had regulated into normal zones, aside from my progesterone, which increased. My Dr changed my progesterone, & continued forward with the same process. At this point in the process I had probably seen a difference of a couple of lbs of weight loss, & I could tell my body fat was decreasing, but I hadn’t seen any extreme changes.
Fast forward another 6 months, I had been at this hormone therapy thing for a year now. I have been very consistent with my diet, & my exercise. I want to be SUPER clear about that because I think a lot of people expect to take a pill and do nothing, & see a big change. You still have to put in the work. The hormone therapy simply helps your body to get back on track, working like it should WHILE you are working.
That being said, I have absolutely seen some changes from this process. I have seen about a fifteen pound weight difference, & have noticed a change in my body fat percentage. I actually feel like my hard work at the gym, & in the kitchen is showing up. My sleep has been SO MUCH BETTER. My energy levels have been better, & I haven’t had the lightheaded/blacking out episodes anymore. It has been a LONG PROCESS.
I know people want a quick fix. They want a change that will occur over night. They want their killer hour workout to manifest itself in fat basically melting off as you leave the gym. BUT THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS. It just isn’t. It hasn’t ever been, & it never will be. Lasting changes take time. The body is so complex. Remember that it takes TIME for things to change in both the negative AND the positive direction. You are changing things on a molecular level. It takes time, consistency, & willingness to not give up when you get frustrated & don’t see quick results.
What now?
A lot of you have asked what my plan is going forward? Do I just stay on these hormones forever? Does my body just stay where it is on it’s own? How does it work in the future? Well…I’m working with my Dr. now on a plan to ween off of the hormones I’m on, in hopes that my levels are regulated enough to where my body will continue to produce the normal levels on it’s own.
I will have another blood test in a few months to see where I am currently at. I’m hoping that I have a new normal set point, & I’m so happy to have finally seen some progress. Just like I wasn’t sure how my body would respond to the hormone therapy, I’m not sure how it will respond to weening off of it, but I am super hopeful! I’m also glad to have the knowledge that I do about the processes of the body, & staying on top of changes.
I know that this can be a very complicated topic, and I am not an expert, but I hope that this can offer some insight for you! xoxoxo Megs