Here is a picture of my forehead at my sister's bridal shower, taken about six weeks before learning I had Premature Ovarian Failure:
And here is a picture of my forehead a couple weeks ago, at Superbowl Village in Indianapolis:
What. The. Heck. In less than six months, I have developed a full blown CANYON on my forehead. I am attributing this directly to an obscene amount of crying and worrying and furrowing my brow. Must learn to better cope with emotions and constant state of worry.
Does anyone have any tips for how to make this go away in a safe and natural non-botox, non-surgical way? Please?
In other news, I have identified the culprit to my stomach issues as discussed here.
A few not-at-all scientific experiments have led me to this conclusion. Namely, the one where I stopped taking this supplement and the diarrhea stopped. Then when I took it again the diarrhea came back. Sooo... yeah. I spoke to my acupuncturist about this herb and she suggested that I try starting it again in very small doses and work up after a few weeks to a regular dose. So I'm going to start 1/4 teaspoon a day tomorrow, and next week I will up it to 1/2 teaspoon. We shall see how it goes.
I am taking this concoction upon the recommendation of Randine Lewis in her book The Infertility Cure, in which she discusses this Four-Substance Decoction as the Chinese Herb to try for Premature Ovarian Failure patients. I highly recommend the book. It's the first thing I read after diagnosis that gave me a feeling of a small amount of control over my situation.
It is the book I got too! (dg July 2011). Our stories are similar, but I am older (eek!! 40!). My high FSH was 103. I found an accupuncturist who trained with Dr Lewis. I have been going since September. My numbers improved, hot flashes/night sweats begone! But ugh still crappy cycles and no ovulation. I also have endometriosis. That showed up 3 months after going off the pill and I had surgery 3 months after that. The past 18 months have sucked and I have experienced most of what you have (except the RE was my Dr Meanie). The silver lining; it has strengthened my RESOLVE to be a Mommy & it has definitely strengthened my relationship with my guy. Given our ages, we have decided to move on to DE. We attended a Resolve seminar on it in January and hearing from those who went before us was extremely helpful. The resounding message was they wish they had reached the decision sooner. But that is hindsight and we all have to go through the process our own way. I wish I had more time for the TCM to work (I believe it could) but we don't. We will be heading to the Czech Republic this fall. I am excited (& it is so much cheaper!) but still nervous. I look forward to following your journey and am confident you will conquer this awful disease.
ReplyDeleteEndo + POF? UGH! I'm so glad you've found your path and are taking steps toward it! I'm sure it feels amazing to have a PLAN (something I currently lack). Hugs to you, and the best of luck to you going the DE route!
DeleteYup. Stabbing pain. So fun. I have literally out of nowhere been double over with pain. So awkward while talking with a colleague. Fortunately hadn't happened in front of a client.
ReplyDeleteYou should know that my guy was completely on board with DE as soon as we were told that was our best option. I was not. Not even close. He gave me time and space to figure it out, try other things, GRIEVE. There really is a grieving phase. Be strong. Know everything you are feeling is normal. I am a total control freak, type-A personality. POF is out of our control, but being a mother is still in your control. Hang in there!!!