Still Searching...but getting closer perhaps!

Those of you who have followed my blog for long (or who know me well), know that I have been searching for joy and fighting anxiety and depression for quite a few years.  Years of trying to pray myself through the clouds just has not cleared them away, and when I have tried to seek advice from doctors I have found the experience frustrating when they simply hand me a prescription rather helping me find and fix the source of the problem.  My hunch all these years is that unbalanced hormones have a role in my struggles because I have a history of low progesterone during my pregnancies (which may have caused my 3 miscarriages), and low progesterone is also known to cause postpartum depression (which I suffer from every time I have a baby).  When I asked my OBGyn about checking my hormone levels a year ago she told me that "hormones are just too tricky to test," but she was happy to offer me prescriptions for contraception pills and anti-depressants.  I kindly declined and left feeling stranded once again.  A year has gone by and I have kept on praying, clinging to Sacramental graces (especially the Eucharist), and uniting my suffering with Christ's---all of which has helped me to love Him more and rely on Him more (which I am eternally grateful for!).  But, I finally reached a point about a month ago where I felt God asking me to search for a doctor who might be able to help me find some healing so that I can be a happier wife, mother, and woman again.

So I picked up the phone and called a natural doctor in town, and I learned from his secretary that he specializes in treating women's hormones.  I was overjoyed!  My first appointment with him was so different than all of my other appointments with traditional doctors.  This doctor truly listened and shared a wealth of wisdom with me.  He asked me to explain all my symptoms, and then he looked at my medical history and family history thoroughly.  He immediately suspected low progesterone and had my hormones tested that same day!  He explained all the different ways to test hormones, and he said that reading the results is easy for doctors who understand the normal fluctuations in a woman's cycle to determine the correct range that her hormones should be in (I am baffled why my OBGyn was unable or unwilling to do this!?!?).  The next week the results came back:  my progesterone was slightly low (surprise, surprise)!  Therefore, he put me on a bio-identical progesterone cream that should help balance my hormones (and moods!) tremendously.  He said that low progesterone results in estrogen dominance which can lead to all the symptoms I had mentioned, and ultimately it can lead to fibroid uterine tumors and a complete hysterectomy, which is exactly what happened to my mom and all of her sisters.  I was so relieved to know that balancing my hormones now might help me to avoid a hysterectomy in the future!

The other huge thing that the natural doctor honed in on is the fact that I have 3 blood clotting disorders:  MTHFR (which stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase), Factor V, and Prothrombin.  He immediately wanted to discuss the first one on that list (MTHFR) and it's possible connection to the symptoms I've been having.  He explained that people who have MTHFR have an inability to process folate and folic acid (folic acid is the synthetic form or folate) and this causes all sorts of negative side effects (miscarriages, blood clots, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, etc).  I explained to the doctor that ever since I got diagnosed with my 3 blood clotting disorders I was told by my OBGyn to take mega-doses of folic acid and the B-vitamins, as well as taking a baby aspirin, which should help to prevent future miscarriages (the reason I got tested for these clotting disorders was because I just had my 3rd miscarriage).  Here's the kicker...  The natural doctor went on to explain that those high doses of folic acid that I've been taking are probably a huge part of the problems I am having!  Apparently, people with MTHFR have trouble processing folate and they have an even harder time processing folic acid because it is synthetic and is not the "activated" form that our bodies really need.  The human body has to convert folic acid into folate in order to use it.  But if you have MTHFR, your body can't convert the synthetic folic acid and it builds up in your system causing things like:  anxiety, depression, hormonal imbalance, thyroid problems, cancer...and the list goes on and on and on!  I never knew there was a difference between folate and folic acid (and the sad thing is that most doctors don't understand the difference which is why my OB has inadvertently been telling me to take mego-doses of something that is bad for my body!!!).  However, all the research shows that there is a HUGE difference between folic acid and folate, and for people who have MTHFR, the difference can be devastating.  What makes it even more devastating is that since 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been requiring food manufacturers to ADD folic acid to all grain products, such as cereal, bread, flour, and pasta.  It has also been added to almost all multi-vitamins on the market.  Basically, folic acid has been marketed as a "good" thing by using the terms "enriched" and "fortified" on the label, when it really is un-natural and bad for our bodies, especially people with MTHFR (which happens to be over 60% of the population!)  Grrrrr!

So, to make a long story a bit shorter, folic acid is a big NO-NO for me and I now have to avoid it as much as possible.  Yes, that means a nearly gluten-free diet...YIKES!!!  The natural doctor told me to take natural activated folate supplements (L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate) instead of the folic acid supplements I was taking, and to eat as much folate-rich foods as possible:  spinach, lentils, asparagus, beans, broccoli, citrus fruits, avocado, nuts,  etc.  He also recommended a natural supplement of 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan), which is a chemical by-product of the protein building block L-tryptophan.  Yes, tryptophan is the stuff in turkeys that gives you the sleepy-happy feeling after the Thanksgiving meal... :)  Apparently, it also helps people with anxiety and depression by naturally triggering the production of serotonin.  Heck, if it's like having a tasty Thanksgiving meal every day, it's worth a try!

Perhaps learning about my low progesterone and my MTHFR disorder are two very important pieces to my "happiness puzzle."  Perhaps there are other missing pieces that I still need to discover.  And perhaps it's simply God's will for me to have a little bit of suffering in this world to help me grow closer to His Sacred and Suffering Heart.  If the latter is the case, I will strive to embrace His Divine Will joyfully, but in the meantime, I am very grateful that God has guided me to this natural doctor who may help me find some healing and happiness on this side of heaven.  My motto will continue to be:  "Jesus, I trust in You!!!"  :)

There are so many great articles I stumbled across while researching my MTHFR disorder.  If you have MTHFR and would like to read more about it, here are a couple of my favorite websites:

http://www.freshideamama.com/mthfr-since-40-60-of-the-population-has-this-condition-and-it-is-the-underlying-cause-for-many-chronic-illnesses-shouldnt-we-all-be-getting-tested

http://www.mthfrsupport.com/mthfr-facts/

http://mthfrliving.com/health-tips/mthfr-avoid-folic-acid-in-food/