[Cynlite]

While I wait for the surgeons to get back with me with my diagnosis, I thought I'd open another topic that is of interest to me because my hormones pretty much flat lined 5 years ago. Some of that was to be expected because of my age and being a woman BUT, it has caused many undesirable symptoms and recently, I wondered if the drugs played a part in it. So, as women do, when the problems all started, I discussed this with my primary care who gave me some prescriptions and then later sent me to a Gynecologist. Out of frustration with the Gynecologist who wanted to put me on antidepressants to manage my symptoms (that just pissed me off because it seems we live in an antidepressants for everything age,) I went to a wonderful naturopathic doctor who was not covered by my insurance but, seeing her got expensive so, I wasn't very good at following up. Since January though, I've been focusing on my health on all fronts and addressing my hormones again was on my list of things to do.

The doctor I'm seeing recently is an Endocronologist. I sure wish I'd been referred to her 5 years ago! It was just a fluke that I got sent to her because I had something suspect that showed up on a thyroid ultra sound. Fortunately, my thyroid is just great but, now I finally have a really great doctor on my "Team" who specializes in hormones AND is covered by my insurance. It's so easy when in chronic pain to blame everything on the spine since the attempts at pain management sort of take over your life. Balancing hormones can take time because it requires blood work every few months and several f/u doctor appointments until you feel better. I've found that keeping my hormones balanced is an ongoing process that I have to pay attention to and not just ignore because I'm in pain. Now, I'm more motivated because I learned of the link between hormones and pain! I'm surprised that no doctor has drawn this conclusion and brought it up to me!

So, this post is an FYI to women about the benefits of seeing an Endocronologist and also informational for men too.

I found many articles linking opiate use to low testosterone. Here's one of them. Magaziner Center for Wellnesspainkillers and low testosterone � Magaziner Center for Wellness

I found other articles linking low testosterone to causing joint pain. Here's one of them: Joint Pain: Is Low Testosterone the Cause?

How much pain we feel is very individual based on many things. Since I can't stop the opiates just yet, I am going to start bioidenticals again with the hope that my testosterone levels will go up and my pain levels will go down! Make sense?