Health & Beauty
SIMPLY LIVING FRANCE
PAGE 58
‘The Big M’ Hello again! I am meeting women every day now that have read my previous articles and often in my general conversations, the big M comes up, so if writing about it only helps people talk about it more, then my job here is done! I am feeling a lot more like myself these days and that is not just my opinion! My hubby thinks so too and someone I do not see very often says that I am a lot calmer and look less tired. A good side effect of the gel I’m using is that I am sleeping much better. I still wake up every now and again but certainly a lot less than this time last year.
Our French lessons and Knitty Nora groups that meet in our bar, all end up as a bit of a therapy session, it’s good for me as I am still very much learning. It’s also good that others feel they have someone safe to discuss their most crazy
moments with and to share information on what works for them. We all seem to have a different set of symptoms; some are rare and not always seen as being part of what we see as the effects of the ‘Big M’. My current investigations have led me to look at testosterone, ‘a male hormone’ I hear you say. Well, just because men can buy this over the counter in little blue pill form, does not mean it is exclusively for them! We women have it in our system from birth too. For men, it is required in order to produce sperm and in women it helps with our bones and reproductive system as well as libido for both. So my next step is to go to the doctors and ask for a blood test, as testing your levels prior to taking it is important, as it is with oestrogen. Getting both hormone levels tested is very important, as you need to ensure that your oestrogen levels are ok. This is because any testosterone added, if your levels are too low, is turned into oestrogen, making it not as effective as it could be. I feel that I could benefit from this for all of the above reasons, my aunt suffered from osteoporosis, so this is a big concern for me. She had both her hips replaced, one twice
