I went back in to review my blood work with the nurse practitioner. She walked in the room and said you must feel awful. I immediately started to cry. What she was not aware of was the intensity of my hot flashes over the past week caused so much exhaustion that I was impossible to be around. I was in a terrible fight with my husband, and we were not talking. I got into an argument with a co-worker. I realized that I was the problem; I could not control my moodiness or anger. I wasn’t sleeping and was generally miserable. She comforted me, and you could tell she had seen this kind of thing before. I assume working in a hormone clinic; these are not foreign stories to you! She told me that the good thing was that my lab results were awful! The funny thing is that it made us both laugh. Essentially because my labs were bad, there was hope that getting them balanced out and having a normal life again. My estrogen was in the tank, and so were all my other levels. She told me the plan of treatment would consist of getting an estradiol (estrogen) pellet, a testosterone pellet implanted in my upper back thigh area. She gave me progesterone to take at night to help my cycle from returning and would also help me to sleep better.
I have read that progesterone is like nature’s Prozac and could help to mellow my unstable mood too. She had me get up on the exam table and loosen my pants. I have to admit I was nervous but the hope of feeling better far outweighed any nervousness I had. She talked me through everything. I am a big baby when it comes to doctors, hospitals, and especially needles. She cleaned off the area, and I felt a prick that stung for a few seconds. After that, I felt no pain at all, and I could feel her touching me. Within less than 2 minutes, the implant was done. She told me that I could shower the next day and not to submerge it in water (hot tub, lake, pool) for about a week. She told me I would be sore and could potentially bruise. She was right! The bruise wasn’t too bad, but I felt sore any time I bumped into anything. I am such a clumsy person, and I run into everything! I am a week out from my appointment, and I am so excited about the changes. I know I have to be patient, but I am anxious at the same time. I will continue my blog hopefully as I see my quality of life slowly return!
