What should one do if they have long suspected their hormone levels are quite low due to heredity and it adversely limits their energy levels and outlook?
1) make a list of all your chronic symptoms over time
2) speak to a doctor about your particular concerns re: hormone levels, and get blood tests taken
3) if your doctor reckons, based on the results, that treatment is justified, I guess you're on your way; if not:
4) study the literature - if you disagree with your doctor about your results, you should be able to find literature that quantitatively supports your position based on your test results and symptoms
5) if you can find supporting literature, ask your doctor for treatment (don't be confrontational when dealing with your doctor, treat them as a resource and a partner, and respect their opinion even if you disagree with them based on what you've learned)
6) find another doctor if your doctor won't agree with a reasoned opinion
If you need help with this stuff, there may be practitioners out there more in tune with chronic illness than your bog-standard GP. I'm partial to the ancestral health movement and paleo diet therefore I'd look here: [1].
Finally, I'd recommend the work of Paul Jaminet - I found his book [2] and his Retreat (which includes personalised health coaching based on blood test results) [3] both to be incredibly helpful in dealing with my own long-term health issues.
Thank you for taking the time to write this response, I appreciate it. I don't want to write too much publicly for privacy reasons, but I did have a blood/hormone test today, and I do have prior experience w/ this issue. I think my issue is more with low neurotransmitter levels making me susceptible to depression, although, there's a lot of psuedoscience on this topic.
