The latest news

With great joy, I set out on my walk yesterday. I guess it is too soon for my knee. 5 minutes later, I had to turn around and head back home.

I've made an appointment with the doctor though and will see her on Friday. D has a friend in the MRI department which may help us with the process.

I’ve also called Curves to sadly put a hold on my membership until this is sorted out. Sadness mixed with relief. Strange really.

Today’s picture is not of bubbies obviously! I wanted to put up a picture from one of the bushwalks that I’ve done. The idea being to activate that side of myself again. It is such a peaceful setting.

Something is shifting in me. I’m not really sure what yet, but my thoughts are changing. My body is changing. I feel the possibility that the treatment I am on for PCOS is setting things right. I am excited, shocked, unbelieving, grateful, amazed at the prospect!

After all these years of struggle, could it really have been PCOS that were causing all the symptoms? Could it be that our desire for a child, is also the instigator for the new season of my life to finally arrive? For the healing of my body - physically and mentally - and therefore spiritually and emotionally as well!

QN added one extra herb to my mix yesterday – THE herb – the herb she believes may have caused my migraine – also the herb that is the main one she wants me to take. I have some migraine signs and I’m being very caref ul. So far, so okay though.

The last two days have been very restful. And restful without feeling guilty. D is away for work and I have had no commitments or obligations. School goes back tomorrow and I have a crazy week. I hope my neck and knee hold up.

As for the rest of the day, it is time to potter around the house and get more things organised and clean and peaceful.

Exercise restrictions

One of the things that I LOVE to do is re-arranging and re-decorating our home. Ever since I was big enough to move things around, I have done this - starting with my childhood bedroom!

When D moved in, we combined two households of furniture into one. Despite culling and storing, as you can imagine, the house became VERY full!

So, my love of re-arranging has been restrained. Furniture is bigger and heavier, there is less space and the possibilities are very limited. However, finally this week, after several weeks of it building, I finally came up with a plan. The place looks great! It's more open and fresher. Cleaner and tidier.

But there was a hiccup! I believe I have torn the ligaments in my right knee. The difficulties arising from this and attempting to become pregnant are not good. It could take months to get into surgery to have it fixed and if I am then pregnant, it won't be possible. Which means going through my pregnancy with a bung knee.



And then of course, exercise is problematic which is a problem for my fitness level in coping with the pregnancy. I haven't really got into a good and regular routine and am desperate to do so. But my usual exercise - Walking and Curves - are not possible right now. However, water exercise could solve the problem. But I don't like going to the public pool! Guess I will just have to suck it up!

The funny thing is though, that I am not irritated or angry or upset at having done this to my knee. Aside from the above concerns, there are no negative emotions AT ALL. I find myself going with the flow and accepting of it all.

It seems a strange reaction, yet there is absolutely no other feelings but these. I am not upset about it. And while I really want to get my fitness back to its normal level, I find myself not worried at all about not being able to go to Curves.

I feel a sense of relief. A sense of destiny.

Now I can slowly, in my own pace, with no pressure of 3x a week getting to the gym, get back into my love of walking. I mean, I love Curves and want to continue with it later down the track, but for some reason, I feel as though I have let go of a burden.

And then I came across this article from the Infertility-Fertility blog on stress and exercise. Here is a quote...

We saw that if you are stressed when you start exercise, your body reacts differently than if you are not chronically stressed and exercise. Not only does it appear that exercise was more stressful for already stressed women, but certainly exercise did not help them lower their stress hormones, which is of course one reason people take up exercising.

I do have a tendency to be stressed without even knowing it. When I think about it though, I know I am placing a lot of pressure on myself to be fit and healthy for bubby. And I am not being very successful, which is definitely causing me stress. Stress that is based on a life-time of stress over the same issues.

This article confirms for me that something is not right. I need to reassess. I need to do one of the most important things for me in this process - find the stress free me.

My knee injury is my sign. It is telling me to stop, to chill out. I am not upset by my knee for a reason. It is time I took a back step and relaxed with my life. I am allowed to let go of the pressure of immediate health and fitness. I am grateful for being forced to stop, for being given a reason to stop. I have been given permission to gradually find my love of walking and living a life of exercise once more.

Testing

This is a test.  I have just installed Windows Live Writer and wanted to check out its capacities.  It looks good on the surface.  Now to experiment…

This is a link to today’s regular post

This is inserting a photo album.  Cool!

View Full Album

 

Inserting a single photo.  So many cool features!!  I’m liking this program!

 

 

Inserting a table????!!!  How amazingly versatile!

wow,	inserting
a	table!!!

 

This is where I went to University….  as an aerial photo….

and as a map…   Awesome!!

 

Gosh, there is still more!!!  I think that will do for now.  Lets see how it publishes.

Fertility Clinic

In my last trip to the doctor, she arranged a reference for me to a fertility clinic. With the consideration of my blood tests and age, she wanted to get me in as quickly as possible.

She estimates a wait of at least 6 weeks before I can get an appointment. I was glad for the time. Initially I thought more time would be better in order to give all the naturopathic stuff a chance. However since then, my acupunturist L has said that he wants me to get an ultrasound of all my 'bits' to ensure that there isn't a physical problem such as blocked or twisted fallopian tubes etc etc. I can get this done at the fertility clinic.

So, the sooner the better now. And once I am in the system, we can take it from there. Once in the system, there are choices. I can choose to go ahead with other treatments, or we can choose to wait longer before taking the traditional medical route.

I really hope we don't have to go there. But as Queen Naturo said, in the end, if you have to have your hormones chemically stimulated in order to have a baby, then that is what you do. And during that time, she and L will continue to support and take care of us in the natural way.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Last week I received the news from both my naturopath and acupunturist, that they believe that I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. While I have not been medically tested for it through an ultra sound, all my symptoms point to this syndrome.

Obviously, I will get tested for it when I go to the fertility clinic (more on this in a post coming up soon), but the problem with the cysts is that they can come and go and therefore cannot always be seen on an ultra sound. Both doctors and naturopaths acknowledge that is a very difficult syndrome to conclusively diagnose.

Some of the symptoms for this hormone disorder are:

• Irregular menstrual cycles - menstruation may be less frequent due to less frequent ovulation, and may be either heavier or lighter than average.
• Amenorrhoea - some women with PCOS do not menstruate, in some cases for many years.
• Obesity - the cause of this is unclear.
• Excessive hair growth and/or facial hair - may be due to increased testosterone.
• Acne - the cause is unclear.
• Infertility - related to less frequent or absent ovulation.
• Sugar cravings
• Increased LH, lower FSH levels, progesterone is low, testosterone is high.

I have 6 of these symptoms, including the test results. And the three main ones for their diagnosis are the fact that I haven't ovulated for the last 2 months, irregular periods and my higher levels of testosterone along with my other hormone test results. While the lack of ovulation could be my age, when combined with other symptoms they are fairly certain of this diagnosis.

So, treatment has begun to help. Whether I truly have this syndrome doesn't matter in regards to treatment, because what I am being given is all good for helping us to conceive anyway.

One important thing for me to do is cut out sugars. Just like with candida, sugars and high GI foods feed the cysts. Normalizing insulin and blood sugar levels is an essential part of treatment and assists in stimulating ovulation.
I have also started to wonder if it is sugar that is giving me these headaches. I'm not sure yet, but I began to wonder about the link a couple of days ago and am keeping a close eye on it now. Any just maybe, with the cysts and my hormones being treated, any sugar is just freaking out my system.

Several supplements are essential to reduce excess androgens, improve insulin function and hormonal regulation by the ovaries. B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, chromium, Omega 3 oils, Dong Quai. Most of these I have been taking for some time now - especially B vits and Omega 3 oils.

In doing more research on this, I discovered the following definition...

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), also known as Stein-Leventhal syndrome is a condition characterized by an imbalance of hormones in women which can affect menstrual periods and ovulation. Women are often very embarrassed and upset by some of the symptoms associated with this condition such as excessive hair
growth, acne, obesity and the growth of small cysts on the ovaries. It is also one of the leading causes of infertility. Because of these distressing symptoms, women may also experience feelings of depression and anxiety.

It makes me wonder how long I have had this condition for. Irregular periods and weight control have been the bane of my life for a long time. And plucking hairs out of my chin and neck began many years ago. Nothing extreme, just a few here and there, but it makes me wonder...

Tempermental Hormones!

I've been meaning to do a post documenting my test results - both the saliva testing through the naturopath and the blood tests through the doctor. However, my naturopath summed it up all too well yesterday. "Your hormones are all over the place!"

And the perfect example are my my E2's (oestradiol). In my saliva tests (Day 21 of my cycle) they were too low. A few weeks later (Day 18 of my next cycle), the blood tests showed them as being too high. No wonder I'm so screwed up!! :):) (other test figures at bottom of post)

She believes that is probably why I reacted with a migraine to the herbs that are trying to change my hormones to a better baby making balance. My usual hormone balance is simply too up and down to be able to cope. So, for the last week I have been on some hormone balancing herbs.

Today I begin taking a gentler version of the herb she believes caused the migraine. I am very scared to do so. I'm debating whether to wait until after our recital tomorrow. I have to be in tip top shape for that and with a cold coming on I want to take my cold mix. I'm nervous that the two together won't be good. And right now, the cold mix is more important.

Okay, what I will do is take the cold mix now, wait a couple of hours for it to sink in. And then take the hormone herbs. Decision made!!

It's interesting see all these crazy results and wondering how my hormones have been affecting my life up until this point. Who knows really??!!

Nevertheless, I am happy to still be grateful and at ease with the journey that we are on. No matter what bumps in the road, we are still living our lives. And while hopefully that will lead to a bump in my belly(!), I am fascinated and grateful for the experiences that we are having and the things that we are learning!


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Footnote:

Blood tests -

FSH - within range

LH - too high

P4 - too low

E2 - too high

Saliva test -

E1 - withing range

E2 - too low

P4 - okay

P4:E2 - the balance between the two is ok.

Testoserone - way too high. Usually a result of insulin spikes. Need to eat low GI, low carb.