@sondrachristo1
Hi Sondra,
One other thing I wanted to touch base with you on that I went through at 64 years of age. I still do all my own yard work, and have a double lot, plus 4-5 flower gardens and a small veggie garden. All of a sudden I started with severe dizzy spells. So bad that I thought I was having a stroke. My Dad had a stroke and when got up from a nap and went to go outside he stepped off the high side of the steps and kept going sideways and couldn't walk straight at all. I was up on my second tier and bent over and when I went to straighten up the dizzy hit full force and I was doing that same sideways gait. Thankfully there was a 150 year old oak up there that I reached out to balance myself, or I would have had a 4-foot drop off. My BP was out of control and no one was paying attention. Sometimes I think long-time doctors get to comfortable with what was and not what is, so they don't look. I made an appointment to see a different doctor and on the first visit -- BINGO -- she nailed it. She asked me if I had been tested for my D-3. I thought she was crazy, since no one is outside more then I am. My BP was jumping from 180/100 to 280/180, and dizziness and palpitations were my 24-hour bedfellows all of a sudden.
My D-3 was "severely low," and she put me on 10,000 IU of D-3 a day. It took 18 months to elevate my D-3 to normal levels, but I can't stop taking it at that level. Our bodies change and don't absorb things the same as we age. All the sun I get does nothing. My BP went back down to 140/80 in 6 weeks, but I was still having lots of palpitations. She had me hooked up to monitor to watch the palpitations and when she got the results she had the front desk call me to make an appointment to come in to see her. She did another blood test prior to coming in, and when I got there she asked one question only. "How much water do you drink each day?" I felt like a kid caught with my hand in the cookie jar, because I don't drink enough water. My electrolytes were not balanced at all, because, again, as we age our body doesn't absorb things the same way. When I am outside working now, I have a very tall bottle of "Plus" Water with me and if I'm out for more then 3 hours I stop and get a 16-oz jug of Gatorade too. If I steer away from my follow through, the palpitations return. If I stick with it, they only appear if I get into caffeine. Everything for me is caffeine free, except dark chocolate, and I'm not giving that up for anything. I have two pieces every day after lunch. It used to be in the evening after dinner, but just that small amount of caffeine was keeping me awake at night. I moved it to lunch and voila -- Good for the gold!!
I use the patch with estrogen only, because progesterone causes hair growth all over my face, so I have never had to deal with that since in my 40's. I hope all goes well with you.