I often wonder if some of us are born with it and others just naturally lack it. I always used to think I had ‘no’ patience. Was it missing from my genetic makeup? Was it the way I was brought up? I’d get so impatient as a child; I could feel it culminating in my belly. A belly of fire building, building, and building until I could no longer keep this feeling down, eventually I’d lash out… shout, scream, or even hit. I would go off!!!

Cultivate Patience

At 13 years old I made a decision, it was a decision to be patient; I was extremely self-aware and realized that having no patience did not serve me well. It was affecting my emotions and my health.  It’s a horrible feeling – feeling ‘out of control.’

I’d get belly aches constantly, due to having to temper this fire in my belly that felt like it was going to erupt at any moment.

So, for years after I made this decision, I kept my patience close to me, basically, the only person who could raise that belly fire was my big brother, and he knew exactly what buttons to press to get me to flip! All the other times, I wandered around in an overly passive state.

It came back to bite me

And then later on in life, it was my boyfriend who got the brunt of my patience (or lack thereof), I kept it nice and in check for everyone else (except my poor man).

I couldn’t understand why I had to actively work at holding on to my patience so that I wouldn’t flip, or hurry things along. And by doing so, I had also lost my ability to speak my mind. It appeared to me that everyone else could control the urge to flip whenever their patience was worn down.

BUT – I had to work at it!!!

I always thought it was my personality, but hormones have a sneaky way of doing that. They dictate your emotions, thoughts, and actions until they have you believing that it is YOU. You are impatient, fiery tempered, depressed, anxious … you have to live with it and label yourself as such.

Well, I was over trying to hide it, so I decided to ban it for good. I did all the necessary testing — blood and hormones, and what I found made sense. My progesterone was flat lining!

Progesterone

Progesterone is your yummy, loving, warm hormone. The hormone that regulates your stress levels and endorphins. It is a beautifully huggy, cuddly hormone which many women today (probably YOU) are lacking.

Progesterone has many important functions, including regulating ovulation, and fertility, it is the hormone which helps prevents miscarriage in the first 3 months. It is a diuretic so it prevents water retention; it helps regulate serotonin, so it prevents constipation. So, there are many important and awesome jobs for this slowly disappearing hormone.

Progesterone is produced in the ovaries, and to a smaller extent in the adrenal glands. During times of stress, our body steals the progesterone and converts it into cortisol. This causes your progesterone to lower and cortisol to rise, causing a myriad of symptoms which can be tricky to treat, including:

Signs of Low Progesterone

Inability to get pregnant
Eczema
Insomnia
Anxiety
PMS
Bloating
Heavy painful periods
…and you’ve guessed it … lacking it can make you IMPATIENT …

Ha! Well, that was an a-ha moment for me. The low progesterone, coupled with the elevated stress for years had left me depleted.

Who knows where this might have come from, but that is why it’s important to understand family history, your birth, and what happened while your mother was pregnant. It will give you an understanding of cause and effect. It doesn’t mean you cannot change what is happening, it can be changed. But it’s always empowering to understand why you might be predisposed to certain things.

So, as soon as I made this connection, I took steps to remedy it.

Vitex / Chaste Tree

The first thing I did was begin taking a herb called Vitex, this helps to stimulate the pituitary gland and up regulate the production of progesterone.

Stress

Next, I had to work on my stress levels, so I continued with yoga and added in daily meditation.

Unlike estrogens, it is harder to get progesterone, it’s much more sensitive and much less plentiful in our environment to absorb.  And lots of foods can raise estrogens like soy, meat, and dairy.

Vitamin B6

B6 is a precursor to progesterone, so I supplemented with activated B6 and ensured I got plenty of B6 rich foods in my diet which included:

Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
Pistachios
Avocados
Pork
Beef
Savory yeast flakes
Liver
Kidney beans

The mix of dietary and lifestyle changes plus the supplement was a miracle. My body calmed down, I found an inner peace, and finally, that impatient person battling hard for patients no longer had to battle.