Menopause/Hormonal Support

[[...]]

Oh Good,

I hoped others would chime in with more brand names. 

[[Sm...]]

Nice work ladies!

 

Though you may still need another Dr considering your GP seems to erroneously believe that taking it orally is somehow better than a patch/topical treatment. If your Dr still wants you to hold off on the patch I'd find another one. I'm not sure how to find good ones in US. A lot of people in US seem to use obs/gyns for their hormones but I'm sure there are GPs that deal with it.

 

p.s It is period time and I feel crappy. Flu-ey crappy and poor sleep crappy. If I feel better on the other side of this period we get to yet again chalk it up to just how lame the combination of low hormones plus benzo w/d is!

[[Di...]]

I'm with ya sista! I finished my current round of progesterone a couple of days ago, and now I'm just waiting for the period to start (probably tomorrow). Blahhhhh.......

[[ih...]]

Is there a "menopause society" (or similar) in the US? Here in Australia the Australian Menopause Society has a page for all the available types of hormone treatments. I think there might also be others as well, because the list my doctor has seems to be longer.

 

http://www.menopause.org.au/for-women/information-sheets/426-ams-guide-to-equivalent-hrt-doses

 

So depressing to see how many formulations contain Provera which is presumably reflected in the prescribing rate. Praise be to the internet for giving us access to all relevant info.

[[Di...]]

I remember my chemist telling me a while back that the HRT he dispenses the most was still Premarin/Premia which is conjugated equine estrogens. I would have hoped that more doctors were at least prescribing estradiol now, even if they can't prescribe progesterone.

[[Sm...]]

Phew.. Hormones seem to be on the rise again

A few days left to go before I can say I'm outta the woods till next month though

 

Is just add again how lame it is to get worse benzo wd from low hormones

[[Ra...]]

Just thought I'd chime in, there is also a maker of estrodial patches called Alvogen.  That just happens to be the generic brand my pharmacy stocks.

 

If your doc doesn't know anything about bios, I would find one who does and who can test reliably. Good luck. Getting older as a woman really sucks sometimes and THIS is one of them!

[[Di...]]

Is there a "menopause society" (or similar) in the US? Here in Australia the Australian Menopause Society has a page for all the available types of hormone treatments. I think there might also be others as well, because the list my doctor has seems to be longer.

 

http://www.menopause.org.au/for-women/information-sheets/426-ams-guide-to-equivalent-hrt-doses

 

I was just doing some googling to see if there is an equivalent meno society in the US and I came up with the North American Menopause Society. So far I haven't found a list of available HRTs, but I'm still looking.

 

However, I did come across a very interesting article about compounding pharmacies which a lot of women use for their compounded hormones. I've always been very sceptical about compounding pharmacies because they come under no outside scrutiny and because of other things I've read about them and the doctors who use them, but this article is also quite shocking if you are relying on your compounder to get your hormone treatment accurate. Compounders are good if you have a specific reason why you can’t use an “off the shelf” medication, but for most women on HRT there really isn’t any reason to use a compounding pharmacy because what they provide can also be readily supplied by a regular pharmacy.

 

http://www.menopause.org/for-women/menopause-take-time-to-think-about-it/-in-category/categories/hormone-therapy

 

 

[[Sm...]]

Speaking of interesting I was reading this..

 

"When adrenals are stressed, estriadol can be shunted to DHEA, testosterone to DHEA, and progesterone to cortisol. In women, the adrenal glands are the only source of DHEA. In the menopausal female, the adrenals are the only source of testosterone, and they produce estrogen and progesterone. If the adrenals are exhausted and cortisol is low, menopausal and PMS symptoms intensify."

 

So this got me thinking about benzo w/d and low hormones. Women often have even worse periods when they are in more acute benzo w/d. That would fit with the above. The other thing I think I may have noticed from women is they tend to have a steeper benzo w/d curve: that is, many are either ok or really suffering - less constants and medians than average male w/ds. That would also fit with the above. You have bad benzo w/d, your body is under stress and converting those hormones to cortisol and DHEA. Cortisol is ramping up symptoms (as we know). DHEA is a GABA antagonist so could be plausbily ramping up symptoms. And then the double whammy of not having the hormones - prog and estro - that tend to have positive influences on GABA and serotonin etc.

My periods are less horrible when in less w/d and vice versa. It is related to the stress response: a suckish vicious cycle. And even without the stress response reducing hormones, naturally low amounts - during meno, peri-meno, menstrual, pre-menstural - of those hormones impact on neurotransmitters - complicated actions of reduced GABA uptake, serotonin and dopamine production etc.

 

She says also:

"The dancing hormones and their interaction are responding not only to each other but are modulated by our lifestyles and significantly impacted by our stess. The complicated interaction of our hormoones and our brain chemistry challenges our stress adaption mechanisms, and fatigue can result. these fluctuating levels of hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, corrtisol and thyroid interact with brain neurotransmitters such as calming serotonin and GABA or excitatory dopamine, nor-epinephrine, epinephrine, glutamate and other that affect our emotional and physical responses to life, to stressors in our environment, to insuts and even infections.

 

As neurotransmitters affect hormones and hormones affect neurotransmitters, their imbalances can lead to increased symptoms..."

 

Dr Sharon Norling http://drsharonnorling.com/dancing-hormones/

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Speaking of interesting I was reading this..

 

"When adrenals are stressed, estriadol can be shunted to DHEA, testosterone to DHEA, and progesterone to cortisol. In women, the adrenal glands are the only source of DHEA. In the menopausal female, the adrenals are the only source of testosterone, and they produce estrogen and progesterone. If the adrenals are exhausted and cortisol is low, menopausal and PMS symptoms intensify."

 

So this got me thinking about benzo w/d and low hormones. Women often have even worse periods when they are in more acute benzo w/d. That would fit with the above. The other thing I think I may have noticed from women is they tend to have a steeper benzo w/d curve: that is, many are either ok or really suffering - less constants and medians than average male w/ds. That would also fit with the above. You have bad benzo w/d, your body is under stress and converting those hormones to cortisol and DHEA. Cortisol is ramping up symptoms (as we know). DHEA is a GABA antagonist so could be plausbily ramping up symptoms. And then the double whammy of not having the hormones - prog and estro - that tend to have positive influences on GABA and serotonin etc.

My periods are less horrible when in less w/d and vice versa. It is related to the stress response: a suckish vicious cycle. And even without the stress response reducing hormones, naturally low amounts - during meno, peri-meno, menstrual, pre-menstural - of those hormones impact on neurotransmitters - complicated actions of reduced GABA uptake, serotonin and dopamine production etc.

 

She says also:

"The dancing hormones and their interaction are responding not only to each other but are modulated by our lifestyles and significantly impacted by our stess. The complicated interaction of our hormoones and our brain chemistry challenges our stress adaption mechanisms, and fatigue can result. these fluctuating levels of hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, corrtisol and thyroid interact with brain neurotransmitters such as calming serotonin and GABA or excitatory dopamine, nor-epinephrine, epinephrine, glutamate and other that affect our emotional and physical responses to life, to stressors in our environment, to insuts and even infections.

 

As neurotransmitters affect hormones and hormones affect neurotransmitters, their imbalances can lead to increased symptoms..."

 

Dr Sharon Norling http://drsharonnorling.com/dancing-hormones/

 

Great Post Smiffy!

[[st...]]

I wish I could take Birth control or HRT I'm 46 and my GYN says I don't need them. My GP says I should and that they are risky.

Most days I wheepy and crying at times I don't know if it perimenapuse or a wave. I feel like I'm losing my mind and in general I just don't feel well. The heart palps are driving me crazy and I kept getting hot flashes last night and felt so wired. Does W/D or perimenapause EVER go away

Ann

[[Sm...]]

Well if the post I wrote about above is right w/d and perimenopause get co-morbid and make eachother worse

 

I'd go with what your GP says but maybe try to avoid birth control pill. Will your GP give you some bio identical stuff?

[[st...]]

I think it will be the mini pill. I've read that the Bio Ident. stuff is tested or FDA approved and so might be the same as the more chemical stuff. I still don't understand if we had all these hormones why is it SO dangerous to replace them. I'm on a emiotional roller coaster and my anxiety and BP has just spiked yesterday. I blamed it on a wave that I thought was coming on and began a pain reliever dose of Amitripline (sp?) and it completely rocked me and I was in such a state of unease last night. I told my husband I wasn't that bad since the week that I jumped of klon and stayed awake and paced the floors day and night 24 & 7 for an easy 14 days maybe more. Last night I could barely stay still and that anti depressant even at a low dose of 12.5 (split tablet) threw me into such a bad wave, or who knows why I got such a huge wave after two months of pretty calm waters and the wave I had last month was more like bad PMS but I chalked it up to being both wave and hormones.

 

Everything is so complicated

[[Di...]]

I still don't understand if we had all these hormones why is it SO dangerous to replace them.

 

That's exactly the point. All of us have had these hormones racing around our bodies since puberty, and often at fairly high levels, but suddenly at the age of 50 the scaremongerers claim these same hormones become our enemy, and should be avoided at all costs. That's why all the negative stuff about natural hormone replacement is so ridiculous.

[[ov...]]

So Diazepam:  The answer is to get tested more frequently for hormone levels?

 

.  Normally my Dr tests once a year, since I was stabalized on the bio-identicals.  I am being tested again next month.  Almost afraid that they are making me worse, I am 66 yrs old.  I wish I would have began the hormones before the vaginal shrinkage.  Once the vagina shrinks, there is no going back.  The extra hormones now, do help with moisture, well they did until my parathesia spread to the WHOLE body, even my womenly parts.

 

Benzo w/d is so crazy, and that is quite the theory, men's w/ds not being as nasty as women's.  But makes sense, they do not have the hormone fluctuations that we have.

 

xo OC  :smitten:

[[Di...]]

Well, I honestly can't comment on how often you should have your hormones tested. I haven't had any hormone tests since I first started getting meno symptoms which is almost 4 years ago now. Whenever I've mentioned it to my doctor she always says the same thing.... "A test isn't going to tell us anything we don't already know", and in a way she's right. I'm post-meno so my hormones are basically stuffed and I need hormone replacement therapy.

 

I have heard this same comment from other meno women. A lot of doctors tend to not put a lot of faith in hormone tests because they can be very unreliable, and a one-off test may not actually tell the true story. Most of these doctors seem to prefer to prescribe according to symptoms rather than tests. So I actually wonder if maybe we can get a bit too obsessed with what our hormone levels are. Perhaps it is better to go by how we feel, and adjust whatever treatment we are using accordingly.

 

Of course those of us in benzo w/d aren't "normal" (so to speak) because the benzo experience totally screws everything up.

[[jo...]]

I take HRT.

At first I was prescribed the lower dose, and it didn't work.

Then, I tried the higher dose and it worked for a few weeks, then stopped.

My doctor got annoyed with me when I told her it was not working and told me that I would either have to take the other hrt on offer (with norethisterone in - many women have had problems with this)

She told me she had never heard of utrogestan or oestrogel, even though other women I knew were getting it on the NHS.

She also told me, after I complained my higher dose HRT didn't work, that I would have to come off it eventually.

I told her no way was I coming off it, and she got even more hostile and told me I would have to come off it eventually due to the risks.

She even said she didn't want me getting like I was with the diazepam, on the oestrogen.

Anyroad, I think that if you're getting big sweat patches on your clothes in winter, and waking up with wet hair and wet jamas, the HRT is definitely not working.

I wanted to do something, but I didn't want to go back to my doctors.

I read online that there is a thing called NCGS Non Coeliac Gluten Sensitivity-it's not recognised in the UK but it is in the US.

Symptoms of NCGS can be meno symptoms, IBS and 'chicken skin'

I never heard of chicken skin' so I googled it and it looked exactly like a rash I have on my arms and legs all of my life.

For the last couple of years, I have also had urgent morning diarrhoea which my doc just fobbed off as side effects from my trazodone.

Anyway, I decided to ditch gluten from my diet four days ago, it's early days, but my IBS has gone, I am not flushing or sweating (even though my HRT should have addressed this) and I think possibly my rash is looking a little tiny bit better, although its early days yet.

Apparently, according to some, NCGS is present in about 40% of the population, though I dont have a source as I forgot where this info came from.

[[Cr...]]

Hi ladies:

I posted last month because I skipped a period. When I skipped that period I had the longest window since I started this taper. I got my period about 8 days ago and have been thrown into the most hideous wave. I feel very agitated, health anxiety, muscle aches. I just wish I understood why hormones play such a big role in this process. Feeling so drained

[[jo...]]

Hi ladies:

I posted last month because I skipped a period. When I skipped that period I had the longest window since I started this taper. I got my period about 8 days ago and have been thrown into the most hideous wave. I feel very agitated, health anxiety, muscle aches. I just wish I understood why hormones play such a big role in this process. Feeling so drained

Was march the last time you cut?

 

You're making far-too-big cuts.

Windows and waves? Why all that up and down rollercoaster stuff?

I used to do a cut-and-hold taper and I couldn't cope with all the ups and downs, not quite knowing how you are going to feel.

I went onto daily cuts at 3.5mg valium and my symptoms faded and I got to 0mg feeling great.

I've known others do it too.

Both valium and klonopin can be liquified by milk.

It's up to you though, I'm not pushing, I just dunno if you are aware there is a much less painful way to taper.

Apparently progesterone plays a part in withdrawal, but my knowledge is limited. As your period has come, you have stopped producing progesterone for the time  being and your body has gone into a wave.

It should be ok once further into the cycle if you never cut since march and you've been ok since.

Daily cuts can integrate progesterone induced affects so that you don't get slammed at the start of each month when your body stops producing progesterone.

You can just adjust your cut size as you go.

Hope that helps and if not, hope others can help you.

 

[[Cr...]]

Thank you so much.  I'm so afraid to cut this last .25mg, I just can't handle these waves anymore. I think I have to try something for this  last little bit.

[[Sm...]]

Hi ladies:

I posted last month because I skipped a period. When I skipped that period I had the longest window since I started this taper. I got my period about 8 days ago and have been thrown into the most hideous wave. I feel very agitated, health anxiety, muscle aches. I just wish I understood why hormones play such a big role in this process. Feeling so drained

 

I hear you

 

I'm exhausted from this period. It has gone on for at least 7 days. It is just crap. Every time I get a wave is during my period. I've stopped judging anything from my benzo w/d until after it.

 

I posted something on the previous page about hormones that helped me understand it a little. In your case we know periods come when progesterone drops - though all the hormones are low by then - so it may be that that is what you are feeling. I know I start feeling bad at first when my oestrogen drops - before my prog drop - and then continue to feel bad till that rises.

 

I'm seeing my new hormone clever Dr tomorrow. She'll have a bunch of blood test results. I think she will want to have me on prog before my period. I'm very wary of it. She said that the reason I'm feeling bad at least a week before period when my prog is supposed to be high is because it isn't actually getting high. She said it is a sign I'm low in prog and so instead of having a high prog phase I have a nada phase that continues on through my period until the estrogen climbs again... sigh.. we'll see.

 

Anyway.. you have it worse than me at the moment and I'm sorry for it.

[[jo...]]

Thank you so much.  I'm so afraid to cut this last .25mg, I just can't handle these waves anymore. I think I have to try something for this  last little bit.

Hi

 

0.25mg klonopin isn't such a little bit.

If you try to cut all that at once it will slam you.

I would make much smaller cuts.

You can dissolve your klon in milk and achieve accurate doses.

 

[[Di...]]

Like everyone else, I'm totally confused by everything. Of course being meno, I have the progesterone issue to contend with..... and it sucks royally.

 

This current round I've just completed is probably the worst I've had so far.... insomnia, anxiety, depression, the whole prog nightmare. I had trouble sleeping for the whole 12 days I was taking the prog, but it wasn't too bad if I just took about 10mg of doxy or AD, but since Sunday (which is almost a week after stopping the prog and I've also had a period as well), the insomnia has gotten worse. Last night I took 2 doxy tablets, which is 40mg, and I never need to take that much normally, and it still took me ages to get to sleep. This is definitely hormonal, because even when my taper has gone bad I never need to take that much doxy to get to sleep.

 

It totally confuses me that my reaction is worse when the prog levels should be fairly low by now. So after doing some reading, my new theory is that the level of my estradiol patch is affecting the level of my prog, and vice versa, because I've noticed that my reaction to prog has gotten worse since I switched from tablets to patches, maybe almost a year ago.

 

I'm not getting the normal peaks and troughs of estrogan, because of the patch, so maybe I'm getting a higher dose of estradiol than I need because patches are a more direct route than tablets, and it could be the higher estradiol that's affecting things. Ironically though my period is actually fairly light, so I know the lining isn't building up too much.

 

So my new plan of action is to talk to my doctor next week and try experimenting with reducing the size of my patch very slowly, and switch to using a progestin, instead of progesterone, because I can alter the dose of the progestin more easily than I can the progesterone. You can't take anything smaller than 100mg of progesterone because you can't cut the liquid filled capsule.

 

I have no idea if this idea will make things better or worse, but I have to try something new. I can't deal with the constant 3 weeks of progesterone crazies. Ultimately I'm hoping (maybe too optimistically) that I can reduce my estradiol down to a level where I don't have to bother too much with prog at all, or maybe only a couple of times a year.

[[Di...]]

Oh meant to say, one of the reasons I'm starting to suspect the estradiol patch is that for the last few nights I'm aware of heart palps when I'm trying to get to sleep, which can be a sign of higher levels of estrogen. Plus I simply can not lose weight, which can also be a sign of high estrogen. Sleep can also be affected by high estrogen. Like I said, just a theory at this stage. These damn hormones are so complicated, and their affects so intertwined, that I'm surprised anyone understands them.

[[Sm...]]

Yea my weight is getting bad on my 8th of an estrogen patch

So lame but I have to do it or else I feel crap. Sometimes I get heart palps if I don't have estrogen. But I have had heart palps from too much too.

 

There are 2 pharmaceutical brand progesterone's in modifiable format - cream/gel - Profemme comes in 3.2 and 10 and Crinone which is a prolonged release vaginal gel

Both are available with script in aus.

 

I'm about to see my new hormone dr. After my period finally finished and I am feeling normal. So it starts with my sleep falling apart a week out and then ramps up till I'm all benzo sick: anxiety; cog fog; palps; fluey; tingly etc until period is over and then ok again (maybe.. may be too soon to tell but I certainly feel calmer than I have for ages)

 

This hormone stuff is BS

 

p.s I don't think people do understand them very well. I'm not sure even an endicrinologist fully understands them. They crazy complicated relationship to every other chemical in your body is.. well.. crazy