I know I've been really out of it this past month. I've been having a lot of doctors' appointments, a lot of tests, and a lot of prescription changes and considering and research regarding prescription changes. It's been tough. Right now, we've learned that I can make cortisol if I have to, so I don't have Congential Adrenal Hyperplasia. I do have very low cortisol levels, though. I also have very low progesterone levels. Progesterone is a precursor to making cortisol, so it follows that if I take enough supplemental progesterone, that my cortisol will raise to normal levels. My blood sugar was also proven to drop too low when it drops, but sufficient cortisol will keep my blood sugar within more normal levels, to keep it from dropping too low.
Everything looks fine chemically except progesterone, but I need more, so next month we are going to double my progesterone dosage, to 400mg per day. We have high hopes that it will help me feel better and ovulate, which will, after a few months, lead to weight loss as my body frees up the estrogen-bonded fat that it's been accumulating while my progesterone was too low.
The other thing testing has shown us is that I have a very fast metabolism. This was quite a revelation to me. I, being so overweight, of course try to eat healthy food and to keep my calorie count around 1300. Usually, I eat around 1200, splurging to 1500 on holidays and special dates. The test shows that I should eat 2000 to 2200 calories a day just to maintain my weight.
I even took all of these test results to my other doctor, who agrees that I need to eat almost double what I eat now, to help my body get out of famine mode. He also agrees to double the progesterone.
So, with all this wonderful food, and all this wonderful progesterone, I'm calling this the "Take Care of Yourself Disease". By this I mean that the lesson I'm apparently supposed to learn from whatever I have that's making me sick and fat is that I need to take better care of myself. My whole life I've had little progesterone, low cortisol, and, even as far back as 1st grade, I remember watching how much I ate and having to control my sugar intake. Now I'm realizing that it's better for me to eat anything at all, as long as it's balanced, than to not eat because the food available isn't of good enough quality.
We've had a wonderful rainy summer this year. Here you can see the boys playing during one of the rainstorms. 
Every year, caterpillar eggs are laid in our potted parsley plant. The yellow and spotted caterpillar in the middle of the picture here is an example. We get about 20 of them, but they usually leave before they turn into butterflies. 
But this year, one stayed and made his cocoon in our pot! see the green thing on the bottom right of the twig.
Here, I took a picture of part of the library to show you how we've added a desk/table and a globe to the library.
Here, I took a picture of part of the library to show you how we've added a desk/table and a globe to the library.
This morning, I just had to take a picture of a beautiful sleeping Sam.
He curls around his "huggy" pillow just like I do. :-)
