The Scientific method

My PhytoProlief arrived in the mail yesterday! Needless to say, I'm all full of excitement here. So, how's it going so far?

Day 1: OK, so I'm that kind of person who has to try on/wear/use/set up any new thing the minute it arrives. I don't do delayed gratification. So of course, as soon as I saw my spiffy new bottle of Phyto I popped the top and gave out it's first measured pump. Every pump is precisely 1/4 tsp, and the directions say to slather it on soft tissue - think neck, belly, temples, chest, palms of hands and soles of feet - thin skin, where it can absorb easily. So I doused my neck. First thing I noticed - it's a thin lotion, and 1/4 tsp is more than you think it will be. I had a hard time getting all the lotion on my neck!

So within about 20 minutes of applying the stuff, I started to feel pressure in my head. Then a bit off. Tired, not fully engaged mentally. Basically the same symptoms that come far in advance of a migraine. WTF, I thought. This is supposed to make me feel better, not worse! I turned over the bottle and read the ingredients list. "progesterone USP" was the fifth or sixth item. Nowhere did it say "Estrogen". Dangit! Maybe it's the wrong one!

This led me to a bit of interwebs research, where I learned a lot about hormones. First, I learned that progesterone and estrogen are synergistic. They work well together - when your progesterone increases it stimulates your body to produce more estrogen. Good news. Then I looked over the list of various herbs in the Phtyo. It's a veritable "who's who" of stuff known to stimulate estrogen production or behave as estrogen in the body. Hmmmm.. guess this is the right stuff, after all. So what gives, why do I feel so crummy?

Well, my migraines are caused by fluctuations in estrogen. So if a drop in estrogen will knock me off kilter, then a surge will probably have a similar effect. Maybe I should have waited until my period to try this stuff? I was contemplating a change in tactic... but then it got close to bedtime and I noticed something.

I was tired. Very tired. In a very healthy way. I felt exhausted and I felt like I could sleep. Now this is a wonderful development for me, because my sleep has been totally interrupted and un-helpful for a while now. You know the feeling where you are totally exhausted but you lay down and can't fall asleep for hours because you can't relax and you wake up a bunch? This was totally different. Perhaps this was a good sign?

Day 2: Oh wow, I slept GREAT last night! I went to bed at a normal hour and fell asleep shortly after hitting the pillow. Deeply asleep. I didn't wake up once, and when the alarm went off in the morning I felt refreshed. This is probably the first time in MONTHS I woke up feeling so good.

So this morning, I applied the Phyto again. This time I slathered my belly, because the instructions say to rotate where you apply it. Again, this stuff goes a long way! I almost wonder if the measured pump is too big, but I'll roll with it.

Once again I felt a bit of pressure and foggy-ness after applying it, but that was gone within an hour. And now, I feel GREAT! I don't feel tired. I don't feel out of it. I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. Dude, I love having estrogen!! So far, I'm thinking this stuff is great. Perhaps I've been low in estrogen overall. Hmmmm.... it might explain some stuff. Trouble sleeping. Mood disturbances. Frequently feeling foggy or just not quite right.

At any rate, the experiment will definitely continue and I will be applying the lotion every morning. I'm thinking I'll do one pump in the morning until my period, and then I'll do one in the morning and one in the evening. The directions say that's ok to do, so I should be fine.

I'll keep everyone posted as this goes on.