My Body Is Not Broken—It Was Just Inflamed and Numbed

For a long time, I thought my body was failing me. Low energy, mood swings, brain fog, chronic fatigue, anxiety, bloat…it all got pinned on “hormones.” Premenopause. Burnout. Mom life. All of it.

But here’s the truth I finally had to face:

My body wasn’t broken. It was inflamed. It was poisoned. It was screaming for help and I was handing it a glass of wine every night and telling it to shut up.

This past month, I finally quit alcohol. Not “cut back,” not “taking a break,” not “dry-ish.” I quit. And I started testosterone therapy, something I’d been talking about doing for months but always wondering if it would even work while I was still drinking. One week in, and something has shifted.

I don’t know how much is the testosterone and how much is the fact that I’ve finally stopped pouring literal poison into my system every evening. But I do know this: I feel motivation again. I feel clarity. I feel like the light is turning back on.

And I can’t help but ask:

Was I premenopausal?

Or was I just suppressing every signal my body was trying to send with a substance that spikes cortisol, wrecks REM sleep, ruins liver function, and numbs every emotion?

I used to say, “I just want to feel better.” And then I’d drink something that guaranteed I wouldn’t.

I blamed my hormones while ignoring the biggest daily assault on them.

Now I’m giving my body a chance to actually heal and it’s responding.

If you’re a woman who feels like she’s losing herself, who’s stuck in the cycle of exhaustion, irritability, self-loathing, and shame…don’t just ask what your labs say. Ask what you’re doing to your body every day. Ask what you’re numbing. What you’re inflaming. What you’re ignoring.

Because maybe, like me, your body isn’t broken.

Maybe it’s just tired of being lied to.

-Casey