Experiments and Exposures of the Hormones

It may be apparent to you at this point, due to previous blog posts, that hormones are a strong point of interest of mine currently. I did not choose to dive head first into the research of them at random. My body pretty much decided for me, that was what I was going to when hormonal imbalances began to manifest in my health. I am going to hold off on getting into detail about all the areas I have researched, experimented, and learned through hormonal health because it would turn into a book, and instead focus on an experiment I recently did with my body/hormones which has been producing great results.

Like any teenager moving through puberty, I dealt with the occasional breakouts of acne, never lasting long and far from what I would label as “severe”. In High School, I rarely had any skin troubles, minus a small pimple here and there. Post-High School was when I really became immersed in my health quest. I converted my S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) into a diet comprised of strictly raw foods over the course of a month, and stuck to it religiously. In the beginning of my change in health practices, I was maintaining the radiant skin I had possessed all my life. Feeling great, looking great – I was stoked!

Things changed rapidly for me.

After a few months of my eating only raw foods, my skin began to break out in acne. It started in waves; I would have a break out, it would clear up – Break out again, clear up. Then, it started to hang around consistently. I found that I always had some acne around my forehead area that was recurring. First, I attempted to battle it with topical washes and creams. Nothing changed. Reading into the issue more, I found that frequently acne is a manifestation of internal issues, usually found in the liver. Many resources suggested to do liver flushes! Aha! I thought, that must be the answer. So, I initially tried a flush using a common method of drinking acidic juice and flushing with epsom salts and olive oil. No dice. Acne remained the same, if not worsened. I guessed I just did the flush wrong, or something. More people told me I should do enemas that would go deep into my intestines, reaching my liver and that would help a lot to clear my liver. While I highly advocate using enemas to aid other bodily functions, these did not help my skin troubles. I played with a various other liver flushes involving herbs, supplements, certain foods, etc. My certainly cleared some stuff out of there, but the acne remained the same.

That is when my hormonal research began. I found information stating that acne was a result of an imbalance in hormones. So, I started looking for ways to get my hormones back in balance. Knowing of the ridiculous amounts of estrogen pollution in the world from all of the chemical toxins in our environment, I knew I needed the hormone to counter act the excessive estrogen. If you read my previous post about the female hormone progesterone, you know that progesterone was the answer to counter acting the estrogen and aiding in the hormonal balance in my body (refer to my post about progesterone for a more in depth description about it.) I began working with several herbs that are known to help balance female hormones, such as vitex, passionflower, nettle, red clover, oatstraw, wild yam, etc. I saw results occur from the use of these plants in the form of relief of all physical pre-menstrual symptoms, a more toned moon cycle that didn’t last a long time, and a deeper sense of love and reverence for my Womanhood. These were all amazing results from these plants which I have the utmost gratitude for. However, the acne was still present.

At some point along this journey, I discontinued my consumption of strictly raw foods and began to cook frequently and incorporate local, organic, grass-fed meats and raw dairy into my diet again. This was the first point at which I saw some changes in my skin. The acne became more controlled, and didn’t look quite so severe. It was still there though and I wanted it all gone. Delving deeper into my research, I found that organic, raw dairy is full of progesterone because the lactating female cows are channeling their progesterone right into the dairy they produce. OK – So, progesterone was obviously the fitting part of the puzzle for battling my skin troubles. Then, I learned that progesterone is strictly fat soluble, and that is why the female body can convert the progesterone in dairy into our own bodies so successfully.

Now – How was I going to derive higher levels of progesterone to beat this acne? Well, in conversation with my close friend, we were going back and forth about what has worked in balancing our hormones. She mentioned to me that she had used an all natural progesterone cream to much success. I had heard and looked into progesterone creams a bit with the intent to try one, but it never clicked for me that this could be the answer to my problem! The cream would be a great method for sourcing progesterone for my body, through the fatty oils of my skin! I ordered some right away. (At this point, all this is taking place recently, in this past month/cycle.) Progesterone cream is only to be used on days 14-28 of your cycle, when your levels of progesterone are the highest. Yes, this means tracking your cycle, day 1 being the first day of your moon time. Coincidentally, my progesterone cream arrived in the mail on day 14 of my cycle so I was able to start it right on time! I applied it twice a day, morning and night, to areas of my body such as my breasts, inner arms, neck, belly, and all over my face.

Currently, I am on day 26 of my cycle, 12 days into using the progesterone cream. I am happy to say that in this short amount of usage, I am seeing huge results in my skin. Basically, the day after I began it, results set in. Every day I wake up to more improvements in the well-being of my skin. Larger pimples have vanished, the acne is generally very tame, and I can see the severity decreasing quickly. Not to mention, I feel amazing! I feel healthier and happier than ever. It is empowering to finally have a grasp on my hormonal health, bringing them into more of a balance. Like I always say, healthy (or balanced) hormones lead to a happy person!

I still have a ways to go with completely curing my skin troubles, but it is such a relief to see improvement after so much hard work, for so long. The hormone journey is probably a never-ending one, nor do I particularly want it to end. Healers have to walk the healing path, and I enjoy learning about my body through enduring physical challenges and successes! It furthers my knowledge about the female body which facilitates me in helping other Women achieve higher states of health, well-being, and thus – Empowerment. That is really my path in life; Helping others to heal. Its in my cards, literally