Last year I decided to lose the baby weight. I ate between 1200 and 1400 calories 5 days a week and lost 40 pounds in 6 months. I was happy. I fit into the clothes I wore when I got married, even though I was 10 pounds heavier. I had more energy, I slept better, and I felt better about myself. I stopped trying to lose the weight in June; partially because I was happy and partially because I hit a wall and nothing I did or didn't eat fixed it. So, I went about happily maintaining my new weight.
In November, my hair dresser told me she was very worried about the amount of hair I had lost. Now, I had lost A LOT of hair when I had Jerek. I just assumed that the lack of hair was from that. But my hair dresser said no, I was still losing hair, which was not normal, AND I had lost about half of what I had before.
HALF GONE!
Thank God I started out with a lot of really thick hair. If you didn't know me, you would think I was lying.
So, I started on a journey to get my hair back. The first thing I did was Google "hair loss in women under 30". The search gave me three recurring things:
1. Birth control
2. Thyroid
3. Alopecia
I knew it wasn't Alopecia. I hadn't lost all of my hair and I didn't have patches gone or some of the other symptoms. Birth control sounded viable. I went back on birth control while I was still losing hair from having Jerek. The articles I read said that anything other then the pill (which I wasn't on), when taken while a woman is already losing hair, can cause her to continue to lose hair. Sounded like me, so Jason and I decided to go off the birth control in December. Let me tell you, that was a huge trust isue for me. I so desperately want us to have another child, but the timing is not right now, so the birth control was my way of controlling the situation so we didn't have another God-gift baby like Jerek. I had to give it up and in the midst of that give my desires and fears to God. That was
so hard.
After researching thyroidism, we were convinced that I had hypothyroidism. I had almost all of the symptoms. The problem was that we don't have insurance and to go see the doctor and pay for all of the blood tests. We had no idea how I was going to be able to be tested. We prayed and prayed. Prayed for someone to pay for the tests. Prayed that it was just the birth control and that my hair would start growing back now that I was off of it. After calling around to multiple labs, some nice lady I talked to suggested I go to the hospital and get it done. We might be able to get assistance to pay for it. The next day a doctor friend of ours told me he would write me the script for it so I wouldn't have to go to my doctor's office and pay for a visit.
I called the hospital.
We qualified for free services.
Sometimes being poor pays off I guess.
I went, got the blood work done. They sent the labs to my doctor friend.
The labs came back normal. normal
normal normal
I bawled.
Never have I wanted a "disease" so badly in my life. I just wanted answers. I wanted a solution. I wanted my hair back.
AND in the 3 months since November I had developed more strange symptoms. A weird red, dry patch on both sides of my nose. Oily skin and breakouts. I had never had more then 3 zits at one time, I was now broke out all over my chin and temples. I was also having bad cramping with my period.
Finally, a friend of ours suggested I go see Matt Buderer and
Buderer Pharmacy in Perrysburg. I called, made an appointment, and decided the $65 fee was ok if I was going to at least get some answers.
I prayed the whole way there. I just cried out to God, begging him just for some answers. I was at the point that I didn't care if I lost all my hair and was a pimply mess. I just wanted to know what was wrong with me. Make sure I didn't have some weird disease that would kill me.
Matt Buderer was AWESOME. He listened to me, explained things thoroughly, and told me I had two problems. First, my insulin was a little high, in the normal range, but a little high. That was what was causing me difficulty losing weight, the rash by my nose, the oily skin, and it was preventing me from growing my hair back. He said the birth control was probably what had caused me to continue to lose my hair, so it was a good thing I was off of it. PLUS by going off, it allowed some other symptoms to show through. Those symptoms lead him to believe that I have low progesterone issues as well. The culprit of my cramping, my post-partum depression I am sure I had after I had Jerek, and other things. It was also the combination of the two that was causing some of the symptoms.
What a relief. I wasn't dying. I wasn't going crazy.
The cure? A low-carb diet for awhile, to lower the insulin. Progesterone cream to raise those levels.
Simple
Easy
Cheap
God you are so good!
Saturday marked week one of my diet. He said I should notice some changes even just in a week. What have I noticed?
The rash is about half gone. The color is a dull pink instead of a bright red and the dry skin is almost gone.
On Saturday I had lost almost 4 pounds! Today, I have lost just shy of 5. One more pound and I will weigh less then when I stopped losing weight last June.
Jason decided to go low-carb with me. To encourage me and also to help him lose some weight to help his knees. He had lost 14 pounds by Saturday and he cheats, stinker!
All I can say is that God is good, Matt Buderer is an answer to prayer. If you have weird symptoms or something you can't seem to fix, call him. Make the appointment. It is totally worth the $65.
