Stress

Stress. It's a nasty word that can mean something different for every single person. For me, it's a horrible thing that I deal with and has significant consequences to my health and family.

I have been through a lot of health issues, and I am now a firm believer that they all relate to stress and my inability to deal with a lot of it. Stress can be good and bad. Stress of a wedding = good! Stress of a job issue = bad. Stress of a new puppy = good. Stress of a death in the family = bad. And on we go. Stress can be good or bad but to your body, it's all the same. The chemical reaction inside is the same.

Last November, I noticed my charts went completely out of the norm and I was able to know that something wasn't right. I was losing focus, couldn't concentrate, was having really crazy cycles, temperatures and a general feeling of unwellness. I was sure that I was suffering from depression but reluctant to go on anti-depressants. My medical doctor at the time didn't think there was anything wrong with me, ran some tests and found nothing out of the ordinary. We were avoiding conception and therefore it was not a huge deal if I wasn't ovulating properly or had a long enough luteal phase to potentially allow implantation of a fertilized egg.

I sought a second opinion from a Naturopath. She sent me to a new Dr to get a series of blood tests that were far more in-depth and was able to determine my hormones were completely out of sync. Low progesterone, low iron (anemic levels) and a few vitamin deficiencies. She looked at my charts, and put me on a plan to get my hormones back into sync, assist my depression and help me relax.
The reason they were whacky? Stress, depression, anxiety.

It took about 3 months of supplements for everything to start functioning better. I was still having a few cycle issues, but things were starting to even out. Depression/Anxiety was still a problem that would need some serious intervention on my part. I wasn't ready to make the decisions I needed to make yet, so all we could do was support my overstressed body.

My Naturopath was aware of our future plans for a family and was in agreement that it's important to get things working BEFORE trying to conceive. When your body is in a state of extreme stress, the chances of getting pregnant is low. The chances of keeping a pregnancy is lower. As I was told, the chances of my body having a miscarriage are high because of my stress, depression and hormone levels. This isn't something you want to hear, but it sure makes you take stock of your life and start to eliminate things that are unnecessary.