Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Hormonal Wake-Up Call

SICK AND TIRED OF FEELING SICK AND TIRED

Seems you’re tired all the time. No, exhausted. No, crushingly fatigued. Something has to be wrong, right? Without question. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis(ME), is a medical condition characterized by long-term fatigue and other symptoms that limit a person’s ability to carry out ordinary daily activities. It’s an energy-draining tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest or sleep. Even a solid 24 hours won’t touch it. And the worst? (Well, not worst, worst) You could be suffering from it and not even know it. All you know is that you feel outta gas. All the time. Sick, huh?

LEAPING NOWHERE

The main symptom of CFS is severe (that would be understatement) fatigue that lasts for 6 months or more. You also have at have at least four of these other symptoms:

  • Feeling unwell for more than 24 hours after physical activity
  • Muscle pain
  • Memory problems
  • Headaches
  • Unexplained muscle or joint pain
  • Sleep problems
  • Sore throat and a feeling of swollen glands in the neck
  • Tender lymph nodes

Any of these could make you just want to pull the covers over your head and worry what the heck is going on with you. That is, if you’re able to stay awake long enough to even think about it.

NO FIGMENT FEELS LIKE THIS

You feel like a constantly miserable mess. You think it’s all in your head (not your body), so you put off going to see what’s really going on. And if you don’t know, a lot of doctors know even less. They agree with your misconstrued self-diagnosis that nothing is really wrong, but they put you through a searching-in-the-dark battery of tests that tell them, well…nothing. It’s in your imagination they say. Maybe it’s fibromyalgia. Or mono. Lyme disease? Maybe (and “maybe”, is the big part) it’s an infection. Or obesity. Alcohol. Narcolepsy? This is a diagnosis? Where is the part where they connect it to a hormone imbalance? Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of a hormone imbalance. Excess progesterone can make you sleepy. Too little thyroid hormonecan sap your energy. Just a few examples. Hormones are chemical messengers that impact the way your cells and organs function. Yet we don’t often appreciate hormones until they aren’t working like they should.  It’s well documented that low amounts of hormones are found in the brains and endocrine glands of people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Who knew? Not your doctor, obviously.

OH, WOMAN, OH MAN…

Research shows that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is six times more likely to affect women than men. But while Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is usually thought of as a woman’s illness, men can get it, too. Actually, long-term fatigue was once considered a male disorder caused by societal pressures. Just over 100 years ago, it was primarily upper-class men in intellectual professions who were affected. “Neurasthenia,” as the condition was called at the time, was a physical diagnosis with high status. The typical patient was a man, and not just any kind of man. He was “civilized, refined, and educated, rather than of the barbarous and low-born and untrained.” (Just who were the scientists dreaming this garbage up?)

Today, both male and female CFS sufferers, suffer from some of the same symptoms. But men tend to suffer in silence. Men’s perception of their worth is typically tied to their careers, earning potential, and/or their ability to take care of themselves or a family.When a man starts having chronic symptoms, he may feel less masculine, even afraid, choosing  to ignore his symptoms. In some cases, men may push even harder to tough it out, which only adds to their fatigue. (Like who needs that?)

HORMONAL “HELP!”

Time to take this distressing and debilitating condition seriously. And we know just the place: Denver Hormone Health.There isn’t anything they don’t know about hormones and the health issues imbalances can cause. And no one knows better how to get you back to balanced and feeling your best. Just talking to one of their experienced, knowledgeable doctors is enough to give you a hopeful shot of energy. With simple tests, they can determine if your hormones are having a field day with your health.  They’ll know if one hormone might be off track, or if it might be several. They’ll know, and know just what to do, creating a tailored, integrated treatment plan that can let you plan on feeling happy instead of haggard. Don’t suffer another day, wondering what’s what. Call Denver Hormone Health and take your life back.

Hormone Disruptors – ASSULT WITH A DEADLY TOXIN

Hormone Disruptors

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE

In case you weren’t sure, your endocrine system is constantly churning out hormones that control everything from your heart rate, to your metabolism, mood, sex drive, appetite, and more. Think of hormones as the body’s chemical messengers which allow your organs to communicate with one another and keep your system humming. But much of the time, bumming is more like it. We’re incessantly and cruelly bombarded with hormone disruptors, whose entire mission in life is to make us miserable. Laughingly mimicking our real hormones, tricking the body into thinking they’re the real thing. Oh, and the tricks they love to play…nasty. Like promoting premature cell death. (Couldn’t you just die?)

All-powerful, they’re everywhere.

That water bottle you just drank from? Yup.

The carpet you just sat on? Ditto.

The shampoo you just used? Without question.

The fish you just ate? They love it.

THE DIRTIEST DOZEN

These insidious interlopers aren’t just ruthlessly hazardous, even their names don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Get out your fingers and a couple toes, and let’s start counting:

  • BPA – Chemical used in plastic (93% of Americans have it in their body. Good chance you.)
  • Dioxin – Industrial toxin
  • Atrazine – Herbicide
  • Phthalates – Another plastic baddie
  • Perchlorate – Rocket fuel anyone? 4th of July fireworks?
  • Fire retardants – Stops fires, fries cells
  • Lead – Worse than the worst heavy metal music
  • Arsenic – Toxins lurking in your food and water (not just a way people slowly killed each other hundreds of years ago)
  • Mercury – Naturally dangerous
  • Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) – Non-stick cookware cooks up nightmares (99% have accumulation in bodies. Without question, most likely you.)
  • Organophosphate pesticides – Target the nervous system of insects, and your brain, should you get bitten
  • Glycol Ethers – What paint, Windex, brake fluid and anti-wrinkle creams have in common. (No kidding.)

LOCKED AND LOADED

Disruptors aren’t just insidious and unpredictable, they are carcinogenic. And the results, aren’t pretty. Hope you’re sitting down, because here are just a few staggeringly treacherous things they are linked to:

  • Infertility in men-low sperm count
  • Slow brain development in children
  • Obesity
  • Diabetes
  • Depression
  • Heart disease
  • Reproductive problems
  • Brain damage
  • Hearing loss
  • Kidney damage
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Lower IQ
  • Immune system suppression
  • Even breast cancer

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT

Take a long, deep calming breath. There are some relatively simple things you can do to put some brakes on the damage:

  • Go fresh instead of canned (organic if you can get it or put some wiggle room in your food budget).
  • Eat fewer animal products (meat, fish, milk, eggs, butter).
  • Use less fossil fuel- carpool, take transit, walk, or cycle.
  • Filter your tap water.
  • If it’s plastic, avoid it like the plague.
  • Read the labels (Although they can really hide under seemingly harmless names).
  • Wash your hands. A lot.
  • Dust and vacuum. Often.
  • Clean smarter. (Cleaning supplies are notorious for disrupters.)
  • Keep it fresh inside the house-open windows, empty stinky trash cans, even keeping an open box of baking soda in the fridge can help.

ATTACK BACK

If you really want to put on the gloves and defend your body’s health, you should think about correcting the hormone imbalances disruptors cause. Fortunately, there is someone on your side in the Denver area: Denver Hormone Health. With a few simple tests, (that simple, no kidding), one of their experienced doctors in the field can get a clear read on what’s going on with your hormones. That allows them to create a unique treatment plan (no one-size-fits-all solutions here), to help get your hormones back in balance and put your life back on track.

So call for an appointment now.

Denver Hormone Health knows how to fight the good fight. And they’re here to do it for you.

Overweight? Relax, take some weight off.

Overweight? Denver Weight Loss

Overweight? Food Shouldn’t Be Your Significant Other.

The world has a deep, ongoing love affair with food. People are getting fatter and fatter, and Americans are leading the charge. Three out of four Americans will be overweight or obese (oh, boy) by 2020. Our undying addiction to food, and especially fast food, has turned to fast, fat-gaining agony. We are drowning in massive piles of fat cell fertilizer. But hey, you gave up being a food beast when you gave up your paramours like the Meat Lover’s Personal PANormous Pizza, Peanutty Swirl Master Blasts with Snickers Bars and your dearest sweetheart…the Baconzilla, trading them in for big helpings of “healthy. And yet, your excess pounds go nowhere except more places on your body. But be reassured, piling it on isn’t always the only food perp causing you to pile on those pounds.

Fear of Mirror.

It’s hard to love your body when It doesn’t love you back.

You think you’re taking good care of yourself, but, face it, you hate what you see. Instead of a hot body, there’s a “not” body staring back at you with distain. Some sadistic character from American Horror Story, has slipped in to your closet unnoticed in the dark of night, replacing your wardrobe with a Ken and Barbie ensemble. The worst, is your stomach sticking out and hanging over like the Jell-O mold you hate at holidays, (even with baby marshmallows. Heck, you look like a giant marshmallow). But belly fat is more than just a major wardrobe malfunction. When it comes to your health, weight gain around the abdominal region and the hips is where fat is especially dangerous.  Regrettably, people who carry their fat like an industrial inner tube, don’t really know that.  If you can trim down your midsection, you’ll go a long way toward preventing the health problems associated with belly fat. Not to mention, that sinking feeling when you see the Pillsbury Dough Boy (or girl) staring back at you in the mirror.

Hormones That Go Bump in The Night

Yep, hormones and weight gain go hand in hand. Hormones are special chemical messengers in the body that are created in the endocrine glands. These messengers are sort of the keys to opening and unlocking most major bodily functions, from simple basic needs like hunger to complex systems like reproduction, and even emotions and mood. But it’s the hormones that effect weight that we’re talking about here. To go into each of these hormones in detail would be like trying to pen War and Peace in one sitting. But here are just some that effect how you can get zapped by unexplainable fat: leptin, insulin excess, serotonin imbalance, too much cortisol, extra estrogen, low testosterone, menopause and estrogen decline, hypothyroid…Hypo disturbing, huh?

Not Just Lovesick, Sick-Sick

When the hormones that could be making you gain weight are out of balance, you’re flirting with your health. Excess weight may increase the risk for many health problems, including

  • Type 2 diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart disease and strokes
  • Certain types of cancer
  • Sleep apnea
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Fatty liver disease
  • Kidney disease
  • Pregnancy problems, such as high blood sugar during pregnancy, high blood pressure, and increased risk for cesarean delivery (C-section)

It’s enough to make you sick just thinking about it.

When Doing Everything Right, Goes Wrong, We’re Right Here.

No way around it, when it comes to hormones, there’s a lot in the balance. No matter how well you take care of yourself, sometimes trying to lose weight is like taking a slow, painful climb up Mt. Elbert, Denver highest mountain peak. (You never think you’ll get there.) The good part, is that our bodies are hard-wired to send us signals when something is wrong. When you’re packing on puzzling pounds, it’s a good chance it’s your hormones screaming for help.

The kind of help you’ll only get at Denver Hormone Health. When you meet with one of our doctors, you’ll know you’re on the right path to reversing your metabolic meltdown. Only at Denver Hormone Health, will you find a unique hormonal weight loss support system. Balancing your hormones is just the beginning, which is why we begin by taking simple tests that tell us exactly where your body’s out of balance. Once we know that, we create a weight loss plan, uniquely tailored to your specific issues. Just think of us as your go to, to feeling fantastic.

So, call (720) 425-9541 for an appointment now. And indulge in your health.