So I have been on the wildest of goose chases of late. Following some pretty comprehensive = expensive blood tests, I was told my oestrogen is bad, that its bound. That my progesterone is too high. That my testosterone is unavailable. I’ve spent a lot of time, energy and money trying to; heal my gut, cleanse my liver, detox my colon, reduce stress, reset my diet. Only to be told today that my hormones are beautifully balanced.

So how is this possible? Some practitioners had the wrong day in my menstrual cycle for when the bloods were taken. Others have a different understanding and believe different measures are required to be in normal levels, or acceptable levels. However the guys who took the bloods state the average range, which is reasonably broad according to them but I am told today is medically acceptable.

So I no longer have a hormone imbalance. I didn’t have any symptoms of a hormonal imbalance other than my skin and breakouts.

I was told perhaps I have PCOS. And yet I didn’t have any of the symptoms.

Conclusion:

So I guess my reflection is why do people think breakouts are hormonal? This is because hormonal breakouts often happen prior to menstruation. However the surge in hormones is not an imbalance, its part of the hormonal cycle doing what it is meant to do…so my conclusion is you can’t fight that. It is what it is. Some people suffer more than others.

What I’m learning is some people have a receptor that makes them more sensitive to this surge and causes the breakouts. No amount of peels, microdermabrasion, products or supplements is going to change that. You can ease it by taking chromium for example but you can’t completely prevent it and nor should you. However it’s accepting that if you have this particular receptor, you will experience monthly breakouts.

Diet doesn’t impact this. So my view is, if the pill prevents this receptor sensitising itself, because its full of anti-adaptogens, its helpful to be on it. It also prevents a bunch of cancers, ovarian but increases the risk of breast cancer potentially and cervical. You take the rough with the smooth. However you don’t have to feel bad for not being purist. You can use clean green cosmetic products and make up for it in other ways.

So can we stop referring to hormonal imbalances and rather save that for blood test results that actually evidence areal imbalance or perhaps deficiency is a better word…