Hormones can be hell.  Hormones can be sexy.  Hormones can be anxiety provoking. Hormones can be depressing. Hormones can be calming. Hormones run your entire bodily functions.  Hormones can make you feel like you are having a heart attack.

Yesterday was my DAY 14 - which if you recall is usually the time of ovulation and when progesterone should be spiking.  Here's the chart:

[caption id="attachment_1128" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="http://www.hormonesoup.com/re-living-my-postpartum-anxiety/salivary-progesterone-level-in-cycle/" rel="attachment wp-att-1128"><img class="size-thumbnail wp-image-1128" alt="Chart from www.sciencedirect.com" src="http://www.hormonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Salivary-Progesterone-Level-in-Cycle-150x150.gif" width="150" height="150" /></a> Chart from www.sciencedirect.com[/caption]

Yesterday was the day that progesterone spike you see in the chart should have been happening for me.  I wish it had but I believe it didn't.  There's no real way to know what was happening with my progesterone but do you think it is coincidental that when my progesterone should have been spiking, instead My Beloved was calling 9-1-1.   My Beloved  thought I was having a heart attack.  I thought I was having a heart attack. It was scary and real and physiological.  This is the Power of Hormones.

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My Toes and My Nose:

We were having a relaxing, hang-out-in-your-pj's New Years Day kind of a day.  While watching a movie I suddenly noticed that my feet were completely devoid of color.  I called to My Beloved - "Oh my God look at my feet!  They look like dead-guy feet!"  It was gross and creepy - I've never seen my skin that color.  I jumped up and started bouncing around to get circulation moving.  It bugged me but the color came back and we had a bit of brunch and went back to watching our comedy.

All of a sudden I sat up and reached for my nose, "Oh my God, I'm not feeling well!  Call 9-1-1", I called to My Beloved who was sitting right beside me.  My nose went completely numb, my fingers and toes quickly followed.  My Beloved took one look at me and to him I looked like that "dead-guy" - I had no color.  I started to shake and my heart went crazy.  As he searched for his phone, I told him "I'm having a heart attack". I just sat still holding my heart trying to breath but it was hard to breathe properly.  I tried to remember from my first aid training what to do when you think you're having a heart attack.  I was overhearing the phone conversation with the dispatcher and My Beloved.  When my heart raced, I called to him to "put a rush" on the ambulance. The dispatcher would know what I meant - I needed those paramedics fast.   My ears were straining for the slightest sound of sirens.

As swiftly as anything those paramedics, Michael and I wish I'd gotten the beautiful woman's name - she was like a angel - had my heart hooked up and were relaying to me the information I needed.  As it turns out - there was no heart attack at all - my heart had the most beautiful rhythm they'd ever seen!   They showed me and my vital signs were normal.  I was in shock - I looked like a dead-guy and I felt like a dying heart attack patient - how could that be?  Well here's the proof:

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My body went into fight-or-flight response:

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">When the brain perceives a threat or danger, messages are sent to a section of your nerves called the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which then activates the adrenal glands in the kidneys to secrete chemicals, such as adrenaline and noradrenaline, which key up the body for fight or flight. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two sub-sections called the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is the actual system that releases energy and prepares the body for action. The body then typically restores itself back to normal after a period of time by the parasympathetic nervous system, which acts as a kind of stabilizer.</span>

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">For people who are prone to anxiety and panic attacks, their parasympathetic nervous system, or their ability to restore their body back to normal after experiencing a stressor, does not seem to function properly. Hence, people who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks have a faulty parasympathetic nervous system, which for some unknown reason mal-functions in its ability to restore the body back to a normal state. The sufferer then remains keyed up simply because there are high levels of free-floating adrenaline in the body that have not burned off yet. For some it lasts for hours, for others it can last for days.</span>

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