Category: physical health

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Moodiness: When It’s A Girl Thing

Let’s face it. Women hate to be called out on mood associated with menstrual cycle. But if you think about it, a system that is designed to create energies in the body, inform sexuality, and when used at full capacity, make a baby, is going to be just a bit complex. To make that system work well, one might have to give it a little attention.

….MIND, BODY, SPIRIT…it is all connected for sure…

As a therapist, part of my intake with clients involves asking a number of questions about diet, exercise, and other life choices that contribute to mood and sadly, cycles in both men and women are often a contributor to low grade depression, anxiety and general irritability.

Most of my job is to do talk therapy around the trauma and/or current dilemma that the client is experiencing but I spend a decent amount of time recommending ways to keep physical health in check, to support mental health. While it is different for each client, I have found some protocols are being suggested on a regular basis, so I am going to include them from time to time in my blog, so that clients have a place to reference this information easily.

There are some women who experience changes in mood every month. Other women are surprised at different seasons of life such as puberty, mid twenties, after the birth of a child or as they approach menopause, and are ashamed that they can’t control the flux in hormones by sheer will power. Did I mention that this system is complex? Take a breath, give yourself some grace and ask yourself what you are doing to create harmony in your spiritual, physical and emotional self. Every little bit helps to getting yourself on the right track.

If you feel that physically something is “off” and you want to support your health with supplements especially designed for the symptoms you are experiencing, here is a protocol suggestion for you. As the disclosure at the bottom confirms, I am not a medical doctor. I am a psychotherapist who loves homeopathy. This is the form I use with young women and older women, who have had enough of the physical part contributing to their mood swings.


Protocol for struggle with mood and menstrual challenges


Symptoms: Fluctuations with mood that coincide with menstrual cycle. Physical symptoms can include fatigue, acne or breakouts, head ache, lower back ache, irregular menses, cramps related to menses (both before and after flow), mild depression or low feeling, irritability

Be sure to cut out sugars, alcohol and caffeine as much as possible, although green tea is always welcome to any protocol because of the antioxidant properties. Alcohol and Caffeine, in soda and coffee, act as depressants and while they can cause alertness at first, the end result is fatigue, sluggishness and even mild depression. Tea is a great alternative since it metabolized differently and does seem to have as many adverse reactions. Also…a little dark chocolate doesn’t hurt anyone!

Daily exercise that includes rapid movement such as 25 jumping jacks, running up a flight of stairs, jumping on a mini trampoline for a couple minutes, running in place, or jumping rope. Do this exercise on the hour, 4x during the day to encourage circulation. Circulation causes supplements to work better and also keeps serotonin from having a “build up” and then “dump” in your system.

Be sure to drink water to encourage supplements to flow through system throughout the day. If possible, that water should be as pure as possible.



Morning:

Multivitamin: Choose a plant based or organic multi vitamin whenever possible. One that I recommend is Pharmaton Advance Multivitamin and Mineral. It has ginseng which is good for energy. Vitamins made in Germany tend to be organic and high quality. This can be purchased at Amazon.com.

Add-on: Vitamin D3, 5000 IU. This does not have to be any special brand, just a decent brand. Take 2 a day for two weeks and then take 1 a day. Vitamin D deficiency is common for most adults, (unless they are a farmer or a lifeguard). Vitamin D impacts serotonin and is essential for mood.

Add on: Vitamin C, 1000 mg. Liposomal vitamin C is the best, as it is better tolerated, but get what works for your budget. Vitamin C helps with infection, including breakouts. It is best to take it early in the day because it provides energy and may disrupt sleep if taken too late.

Vitanica Brand supplements for hormone imbalance:
1. Slow Flow Menstrual Flow Support
2. Fem Rebalance, Hormone Balance Support.

Take as directed on packaging. After 2 weeks, evaluate if this can be altered.

Nightime:

Liv Lullaby CBD for sleeplessness, headache, cramping or night time anxiety: Take one soft gel 30 minutes before bed. Use pharmaceutical grade only. Here is a link: couchtime.livlabsnow.com

Other CBD products can be layered for high levels of depression and/or anxiety. Seek consult before layering.


Sepia: Sepia is a homeopathic remedy created from fish oils. It helps with most of the symptoms listed above. Take 5 pellets daily, each night before bed to help with mood, cramping, flow, back ache and vaginal dryness or aches. I like the brands Boiron or Hylands. Sepia can be found at your local or online health food store or amazon.com.

Hepar Sulphuris: This is an all natural antibiotic that addresses chronic or cyclical breakouts related to hormone imbalance. Can be taken daily or at the time of the breakout. 5 pellets before bed is a good place to start. Schedule can be altered as symptoms occur. I like the brands Boiron or Hylands.

Other products recommended at consultation: (this is specific to each client)

Remember that every new protocol might need a little time to work well. Give yourself grace as you implement new habits. None of these remedies require a prescription and the above protocol should not be considered medical advice. These are supplements that have shown to help women who struggle with symptoms related to menstrual cycle. If you have an adverse reaction to any of the supplements, please discontinue use immediately. It is recommended that this protocol be shared with any medical professional that is treating you so that they can evaluate interactions with any prescription medication. Pharmacists are often the best resource for supplement interaction information.

As always, let me know if I can help.

With love,

Sonia





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Community: Health depends on it

How could any of us know that when we read George Orwell’s 1984, in high school, we would actually live it one day? It was presented to us as Science Fiction, and something that was thought provoking. We should have read it like a training manual. One of the best quotes to describe our times, inside this epic piece of literature was:

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four.”

I sat with a client last week, who is as frustrated as the rest of us, with regulatory guidelines that keep her from interacting with friends and family. She said, “I know a lot of people, who also know a lot of people, and none of us know anyone who has died of COVID, so it is hard to understand why we can’t interact with one another.” She, like many of my clients, is fighting hard to keep upbeat, pushing off depression, during this time. Statistically, the numbers are staggering right now. Depression, anxiety, addiction, abuse…all on the rise. Some reports are showing a 30% increase in reported suicide attempts. At some point we need to consider that advocating for mental health is self defense, during this freedom-less time.

Recently, I ran across an article put out by the CDC, that warned about the dangers of isolation. Recent studies were cited in the article, studies that proved that Social isolation significantly increased a person’s risk of premature death from all causes, a risk that may rival those of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. Social isolation was associated with about a 50% percent increased risk of dementia. As a mental health professional, I am appalled that along with suggestions of social distancing and mask wearing, there were not guidelines of how to maintain a healthy emotional state during this time. I see firsthand the damage as I sit with clients (all via Telehealth now!) on a regular basis, who now struggle with increased anxiety and depression or who never experienced symptoms before, but are now battling sluggishness, sleeplessness, lethargy, hopelessness, lack of motivation, apathy, and many other symptoms associated with depression.

I am an introvert, who already worked from home as much as I went into my office. So, at the beginning of the shutdown, my life did not change as much as it did for others who were working from home for the first time. But I knew, that over time, the shutdown would start to feel suffocating, even to my love-my-alone-time-self, if I did not proactively make sure that I had community during the weeks (who knew it would be months!) ahead. I immediately put a plan in place for myself that included my neighborhood besties, who live, work and shop at my same haunts, so our exposure is almost identical. We met regularly, but were careful and responsible, so much so, that one of our members had COVID and the rest of us stayed healthy! Having this interaction made this shutdown doable for us. Some people have openly criticized my willingness to risk human interaction at the level I have chosen, because they know that I am immune compromised. For me, mental health is as important as physical health. How do you think I continue to beat the life sentence I have been given?

What are you doing to keep human interaction at a healthy level? What are you doing to protect your mental health and thus, your survival?

I want it to be clear that I am not proposing that you engage in activities that put yourself at risk for the disease, just so you see people face to face. I do not encourage the immune compromised to rub shoulders with strangers during this time. But most of us have the ability to find a team of people to do life with strategically and still minimize risk.

One of the personal victories that I had during this shutdown came from a proactive attempt to create community. Mike and I have been doing church virtually for the last four years, partially for my health, as I have been a germ avoider for the last 6 years. It was also fun to “attend” the same church as our kids living in Waco, TX. So, when Antioch of Waco offered the opportunity to join an online small group during the shutdown, we took a risk and joined a group. We now have friends that we have met with weekly for the last 18 weeks….who knew?

I encourage you to take a look at this short report that gives some support for maintaining contact with other humans: https://www.khca.org/files/2015/10/8-Reasons-Why-We-Need-Human-Touch-More-Than-Ever.pdf. If you are struggling to feel purposeful, or you find yourself not caring about the future or you are just sleepy all the time, you may be on the brink of a deeper dive into depression that could be reversed with some human interaction. The risk might be worth it, especially if done with care.

As always, let me know if I can help.

With love,

Sonia