Up, Up and Away!
Lived Experience.
7/3/20261 min read
My family medical history is plagued with heart trouble and sugar issues. So, naturally, I was hyper-aware of how much sugar I consumed in particular. I had my levels tested every six months – full workup. So, imagine my surprise, and my PA’s, when all of a sudden everything just jumped, for no apparent reason.
Triglycerides – 317!
Total Cholesterol – 225!
LDL (bad cholesterol) – 166!
Fasting glucose – 239!
A1C – 9.9!
Now granted, I wasn’t exactly eating a Mediterranean diet or working out like an Olympic athlete, but with no major changes in the way I had always eaten and exercised, these markers skyrocketed. We discussed making dietary changes and increasing the amount of exercise to try to combat these numbers. It did not work. In fact, my weight also went up over 60 pounds to an all-time high of 197! On a 5’5” frame, that was exorbitant.
Nothing worked. Not diet, not exercise, not statins, not blood sugar meds. Looking back, it is perfectly clear. My body was going through perimenopause, which can cause all of these markers to spiral out of control. Luckily, an injectable blood sugar medicine helped tremendously.
Over the course of three years, it lowered my A1C, I lost weight (about 50 pounds on average), and it brought down my cholesterol and triglycerides. AND it got rid of my hot flashes and night sweats. So now, I am a fairly comfortable 150 pounds, my A1C is 5.9, total cholesterol is 194, LDL is 113, and triglycerides are 170 (still a little high but WAY down). All without the need for a different medicine for each marker.
#MenopauseAwareness #Perimenopause #HormoneHealth #MidlifeWomen #MenopauseSupport