By Amy Zellmer, Editor-in-Chief
It’s a new year, a new start, and maybe even a new shift in your mindset. January 1st marks the beginning of a new year, a new chapter of your life, and possibly a new chapter in your recovery.
This issue is all about Hormones, and I hope it will give you a new perspective on your symptoms and some answers on how to combat them.
Traditional healthcare providers often overlook and underplay hormones. They will do a general blood test and tell you your hormone levels are “normal” … raise your hand if you can relate!
Yet, traditional blood tests don’t give us all the answers and are too generalized, meaning what might be normal for one person isn’t normal for the next. The ranges are too broad, and even if you’re at the end of a range, most doctors will say you’re still “within normal” so you have nothing to worry about.
Meanwhile, you’re left struggling with brain fog, hot flashes, abnormal periods, feelings of rage/anger, and so many other symptoms doctors try to tell you are just mental health issues. Now don’t get me wrong, everyone needs a good mental health therapist. However, the root problem lies much deeper than that. And all the therapy in the world won’t fix a hormone imbalance.
Hormone imbalance is even more overlooked for males, especially since men don’t typically think about their hormones — they don’t have a monthly reminder of how their bodies shift and change from day to day. Yet men can have off-the-chart hormonal problems (particularly anger or emotional issues).
As you will find in the following pages, you can definitely find doctors out there to help you address your hormones … and far more accurate tests exist, such as the Dutch (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones)Test. While these tests may not be covered by insurance, they will give you better answers than the blood panel the doctor ran at the clinic and told you looked “normal.”
I hope you find some answers and begin to feel validated. I know how frustrating this journey can be, especially when we’re taught our entire lives to blindly trust doctors. Yet the truth is they don’t know everything. They simply can’t. When it comes to brain injury, they are woefully behind in their education, which proves incredibly dangerous for the patients whom they tell are fine, and their problems can’t possibly still be related to their concussion.
Demand answers. Find the right doctors. They truly DO exist, and they WANT to help you get better and back to a functional way of life!
