Bio-Idential Hormone consultation is complete!!

   Here I am writing at 8:30am on Friday morning...when my consultation appointment for my feel good hormones was yesterday!!!!  Everybody else has a Murphy's Law....I have a Maxine's Law!  Which mean in simple terms I couldn't get on the computer until late last night...cause I had to wait my turn!!!!  Ahhhh....a busy house..ain't it grand..tee-he.
    I've gotten several phone calls since posting my blog asking "exactly what are you doing?"  So I am going to briefly write a little blurb about bio-identicals >(& from now on I am gonna call it "bios", cause I am too lazy to type out the whole word!!)
  We all know that when its time for us to start going thru the Big M, (some like me start the process 10 years before it actually occurs) our hormones start whacking out.  For some its hot flashes-sweats-moodiness.  For others it could present its ugly self in the form of headaches-sleeplessness-heart issues-slight fatigue-extreme fatigue-lack of strength-changes in skin like acne, sagging, onset of wrinkles and (my personal favorite) brain fogginess>ie lack of concentration~tough time making decisions~air head feeling.  Sound familiar to anyone!!!!!
All of these conditions can last for a short while or for some unfortunate women (once again like me) it can last for years.  Mine started at 35....so I am twenty years into this.  I have talked to women who have felt like cow dung for 40 years!!!!!
  Tradition hormone treatment~which is frowned upon now because of side effects~ meant getting a "one size fits all" presciption of estrogen.  You take it once a day for years & years and wa-la your fixed.  Most of these hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drugs were derived from horse pee!!!  The way it was explained to me is that horse estrogen emitted thru their tinkle is the closest form of animal estrogen to us, hence where the horse pee comes in!  Then plant estrogens were introduced...which were better, but weren't as effective.  The real reason so many market HRTs don't work is because we women have more than one hormone in our little bodies. So to just give us one....when another is still lacking causes problems.  Enter Bios.
  The treatment thought behind Bios-which are compounded (made up from scratch in your local pharmacy) are supposed to be all non-animal.  No horse~funky frog or snake venom pee!!!!!  The Doctor first does a minimum 6 panel hormone screen to see what you are missing....which should always include adrenals.  Adrenals are those little chemicals in our body that give us the "fight or flight" ability.  Its the stuff that makes you  move quick when your child is in hurt & you automatically take action.  Adrenals are also involved when you get stressed.  Being stressed eats up your adrenals.  We gals are stressed 90% of the time...so our adrenals are shot to hell!
If we have no adrenals...we have no energy.  Sound familiar?!?!?  So anytime you get your hormone levels...it is very important to have your adrenal levels checked too.  Soooo...back to it.  After hormone level testing is done and a clear picture of what is or is not there, the Doctor & pharmacist put together a prescription of various hormones that is missing~usually in the form of a cream that you rub on daily or sometimes applied vaginally. Creams are used rather than pills, because the dose is delivered directly into your blood stream, rather than going thru the body & especially directly thru the liver.  In short ( I know...I don't do anything short!) the term Bio-identical means a hormone cocktail that is as close to your "identical" hormone makeup as possible.  Makes sense~right.  
   Okay, back to yesterday.  I arrived at Med Solutions Compounding for my appointment.  It was a quiet, professional office.  I was greeted immediately and offered a complimentary beverage.  While I sipped my beverage I filled out some paperwork...which consisted of 2 pages...very easy, simple paperwork...not like the books you have to fill out on a new doctors visit.  On the back  were listed about 50 lines of symptoms..I was to check which ones I was experiencing.  Well out of the 50-I checked at least 30!!!!  I won't list all of the line items...but here are a few:  Morning fatigue~evening fatigue~sleeplessness~agitation~tearfulness~thinning hair~acne~headaches~dry, brittle hair~dizziness~muscle fatigue~lack of physical stamina~heart racing~vision~brain focus~aching muscles~depression. Well slap me face & make me scream!!!!!  There my physical bio was right on paper.......any of these symptoms sound familiar to anyone?!?!
   We had a general conversation about Bios...since I had done my homework on the subject....he only hits the highlights of what Bio-identicals were.  He explained to me that first that my hormone level must be established.  He presented me with a kit which contained four baby plastic viles, and four baby straws....all were color coded.  Each color represented a time of day....I would have to give four samples in a day to gage how my hormones were behaving (or not behaving) throughout the day.  Now..what...you ask am I putting into this baby vile with the pretty color codes straws.......SPIT!!  Not blood...nor pee....spit!  Spit apparently is the absolute best indicator of hormones for the purpose of gaging your hormone activity through a day.  Pee & blood will only give you an indicator for whatever time of day you gave the sample.  Made sense to me. 
    You spit at very specific times of the day:  1st spit-very first thing when you get up in the morning; before you brush your teeth or drink anything.  2nd-around noon.  3rd-later part of the day, 6ish or so. 4th-before you go to bed; once again before you brush your teeth.  Once I have all four of my samples...I stick samples (of which a mailing box is conveniently provided) and box in the freezer.  The next morning I will drop it off to the post office (postage paid) to be mailed to a lab.  The purpose of freezing is to keep the sample as fresh as possible...if you do your spit samples on a Friday...you have to freeze & wait until Monday to mail; they don't want it sitting in some hot mail room for days.  Once the sample is received at the lab....it is analyzed & within 48 hours results are faxed back to my Dr. Mouna at the pharmacy.  During this whole process, I have been advised of a list of Doctors that I get to pick one out of that specialize in Bios.  The results are sent to my choice Doctor...he calls me...we set up an appointment...have convo....he & Dr. Mouna decided on the best prescription cream containing my specific hormones and how it is to be applied (either rub it on & vaginally~I already voted for rub on~~).  And wa-la we begin the journey feeling better....tweaking along the way as needed....once a month prescription....at an average cost of $40-$60 dollars, depending on how many hormones I have in my little wonder cream.  Dr. Mouna already told me I will have alot because I have had a hysterectomy....& I have not a hormone anywhere to be found!!!
    Here's the only down side.  The hormone testing costs $270.00 which has to be paid of course up front before the color coded samples go anywhere.  That's to be expected.  Then there is the doctors fee...some docs charge less than others....one was really expensive....like $300 for the initial visit!!!!  So I am going to have to come up with a minimum of $500 bucks to get myself started.  Insurance may cover the doc visit...but will not cover the testing....insurance companies frown highly on bio-identicals.
   So....my first step is complete and I am pleased so far.  The first step is my most important because I am finally moving forward instead of just "dealing with it".  I figure after all this time of researching and looking, the powers that be has landed me in the right place.  Even though Maxine's Law has struck where the money is concerned...that too will be okay....cause I am where I am supposed to be.  Yee-ha.....I'm gonna get this done...and by August I am gonna be feeling like a new woman!!!!  Hot-damn.