Menopause/Hormonal Support

[[Ra...]]

My compound pharmacist says it's really hard to OD on progesterone, that is feel symptoms from it. That's not to say there are some ladies who might be extra sensitive to it. I can tell you, I had 4 times the progesterone in my system I was supposed to have and couldn't tell based on symptoms. Generally progesterone is the 'calming' hormone and estrogen is the 'exciting' hormone. When you are pregnant, you have tons of extra progesterone, that's why women feel sleepy or tired when pregnant.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of progesterone, provided it's prescribed by a good provider. I wouldn't just guess though, I'd want my hormones tested. 19 to 23 days after the start of your last period. I've been taking progesterone for the last year to oppose the estrodial I take. I have a .05mg patch, so very low dose. I change it once a week.  Anyone on hormone therapy should monitor their hormones via testing at least a couple of times a year. We're testing mine right now because we are still trying to dial in the right dose.

[[Sm...]]

I don't get it though cause estrogen calms me and prog gives me anxiety and insomnia

 

I was sleepy and had pregnancy brain etc during pregnancy.

 

I just don't get this hormonal caper

[[Ra...]]

Smiff, these hormones are surely complicated things.  Not everyone reacts the same and also different delivery methods also makes a difference. I have a friend who takes a progesterone troche and she says she has to be ready for bed because within about 15 minutes, her eyes are closing. I wish it affected me that way.

[[Di...]]

My compound pharmacist says it's really hard to OD on progesterone, that is feel symptoms from it. That's not to say there are some ladies who might be extra sensitive to it. I can tell you, I had 4 times the progesterone in my system I was supposed to have and couldn't tell based on symptoms. Generally progesterone is the 'calming' hormone and estrogen is the 'exciting' hormone. When you are pregnant, you have tons of extra progesterone, that's why women feel sleepy or tired when pregnant.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of progesterone, provided it's prescribed by a good provider. I wouldn't just guess though, I'd want my hormones tested. 19 to 23 days after the start of your last period. I've been taking progesterone for the last year to oppose the estrodial I take. I have a .05mg patch, so very low dose. I change it once a week.  Anyone on hormone therapy should monitor their hormones via testing at least a couple of times a year. We're testing mine right now because we are still trying to dial in the right dose.

 

Prog in particular is a very complicated hormone, and is very possible to OD on it, particularly those who are self medicating because they have no idea how they are unbalancing their whole body. There is a lot of very reliable evidence and information from expert sources of progesterone toxicity and overload.

 

It's also not as black and white to say that prog is the calming hormone and estrogen is the exciting hormone. Hormones aren't as cut and dried as that. In menopause, estrogen is in decline and that is what you need to help with insomnia, not progesterone.

[Guest [Ti...]]

Is it helping Time?

 

All female hormones cause weight gain pretty much when they are at a high. Yup you do get heavier when you are pregnant etc. You are only using it for some of your cycle. It may not or it may.

 

I have no idea, I feel doped up no matter what time of the day it is lol. I don't want to use the prog cream if it's going to make me gain weight again though, eff that. Nope.

[[Ju...]]

It has been 6 weeks since i took my last b/c pill,and i still feel horrible,i thought after i ovulate in my normal cycle natural progesterone would rise and i would feel better,i did ovulate but i still feel worse then i felt on my first month off benzos.So wow,what happened to me? I was doing so well and then WHAM-i am afraid to go out again,i am in 24/7 panic and muscle spasm like right after jumping.

[[Sm...]]

I don't know Julianas

That really is horrible

I guess if it were me there is a couple of things I'd try: I might if I was desperate try proper pharmaceutical prog cream and estrogen cream and play around until I felt better. Then wean off it. With cream it shouldn't be too hard to slowly wean off.

Its tricky. You don't want to end up worse but it sounds like you are in pretty dire straights.

[[Ju...]]

Thank you Smiff,

I am afraid to try something new to make it worse,because maybe it is a combination of factors that ruined my withdrawal,i was taking Ibuprofen for a month twice a day for Pericarditis and then stopped,so maybe this is the problem or both together.I have been through a lot of stress as well.

I see you tried curcumin,did it cause you issues in withdrawal ??Because i ordered it and was going to try instead of NSAIDS but now i am afraid to take anything at all.  

 

[[Ra...]]

My compound pharmacist says it's really hard to OD on progesterone, that is feel symptoms from it. That's not to say there are some ladies who might be extra sensitive to it. I can tell you, I had 4 times the progesterone in my system I was supposed to have and couldn't tell based on symptoms. Generally progesterone is the 'calming' hormone and estrogen is the 'exciting' hormone. When you are pregnant, you have tons of extra progesterone, that's why women feel sleepy or tired when pregnant.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of progesterone, provided it's prescribed by a good provider. I wouldn't just guess though, I'd want my hormones tested. 19 to 23 days after the start of your last period. I've been taking progesterone for the last year to oppose the estrodial I take. I have a .05mg patch, so very low dose. I change it once a week.  Anyone on hormone therapy should monitor their hormones via testing at least a couple of times a year. We're testing mine right now because we are still trying to dial in the right dose.

 

Prog in particular is a very complicated hormone, and is very possible to OD on it, particularly those who are self medicating because they have no idea how they are unbalancing their whole body. There is a lot of very reliable evidence and information from expert sources of progesterone toxicity and overload.

 

It's also not as black and white to say that prog is the calming hormone and estrogen is the exciting hormone. Hormones aren't as cut and dried as that. In menopause, estrogen is in decline and that is what you need to help with insomnia, not progesterone.

 

I agree with you DP that hormones are very complicated.  I was speaking in general terms.  I was the opposite of most women.  When I was first tested, I had almost no estrogen (most women are estrogen dominate as they approach menopause) and it woke me in the night with hot flashes and adrenaline surges.  When I started my BHRT, those stopped.  The pharmacist told me that with that low estrogen level, I would not sleep, so it is a double edged sword.  It can be calming as long as it's balanced with progesterone.  Same with progesterone.  If not balanced with estrogen, the side effects mimic that of too much estrogen.  So it's important to be tested by a reliable source and then take the least amount you can get away with to minimize your symptoms.

[[Di...]]

Estrogen dominance is a bit of a controversial subject. Most medical doctors don't recognise it. It can be a bit complicated because while for some women the estrogen may "appear" to be dominant to prog, it is still low, and low estrogen is what gives us all the symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, VA, anxiety, depression etc.

[[Ra...]]

Estrogen dominance is a bit of a controversial subject. Most medical doctors don't recognise it. It can be a bit complicated because while for some women the estrogen may "appear" to be dominant to prog, it is still low, and low estrogen is what gives us all the symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, VA, anxiety, depression etc.

 

I would agree with you again DP, I think it depends on who you talk to.  It used to be that they thought it was low estrogen and they wanted all women to just take estrogen.  The latest thinking is that it's more of an out of balance situation with estrogen being higher in ratio to the progest than it should be.  In my case, it was just the opposite, I hardly had any estrogen at all, but even still, it was out of balance with the progest. 

 

There is no doubt it is a complicated topic and I wouldn't even try to say I'm any kind of expert, just read a lot, mostly on the internet and also combined with what my Naturopath has told me which incidentally does not sync with what my regular GP doc says about hormones.  It's the pits, that's for sure!

[[Di...]]

I think that's the clue here - what you read on the internet and naturopaths. It's only the alternative industry that supports the idea of E dominance - and that's usually so they can sell prog creams. Sad but true I'm afraid.

[[Ra...]]

I think that's the clue here - what you read on the internet and naturopaths. It's only the alternative industry that supports the idea of E dominance - and that's usually so they can sell prog creams. Sad but true I'm afraid.

 

Sad, but true.  I don't believe you can get any type of estrogen OTC like you can progesterone creams, can you?  Like you, I don't trust the OTC creams, you just never know what's in them at what density.  There's actually a pretty good website called power-surge.com.  Have you visited that site at all?  I learned from that site as well as others.

[[Di...]]

To my knowledge you can only get E on prescription, but the alternative crowd are pretty good at handing out the phytoestrogens, which in my experience are a complete waste of money. I'm not really sure how or why progesterone is so easily available OTC. There must be some kind of loop hole there where it can be made so freely available. Whatever it is I wish someone would stamp it out.

 

I have been to power surge in the past, but not for a while. I should give it another check.

[[Wo...]]

I do like Dr. Northrup:

 

http://www.hayhouseradio.com/show_details.php?episode_type=0&show_id=138

[Guest [Ti...]]

I do like Dr. Northrup:

 

http://www.hayhouseradio.com/show_details.php?episode_type=0&show_id=138

 

LOVE HER! Incredible woman, there needs to be more like her.

[[Sm...]]

ok so 1 week ago I was taking almost double my usual slee aids to sleep and wondering whether I need to slow down my taper

then my period ends... and I slept last night without a single sleep aid and I'm fine on the w/d front

 

Grr hormones.. If I was like this all the time I could move through this taper quicker.

 

I saw the Dr who specialised in hormones.

She has organised a blood test for Day 21 of cycle for me.

 

She said that what I was experiencing - everything going cooky a week before period - is not because my prog is high (cause that is the high time of the month). If you get to that time of your month and your prog isn't high then you have the low hormones in general that you have during period too.

 

So we'll see. I'm wary of trying prog though. If I can keep it to just that time of the month I'll be ok. But I don't to become an addict. With estrogen I can now just use it at that time of the month and then drop it. Although it did take a month of building up to get to there, and quitting exercise.

 

I'll have to find some exercise that don't seem to send my hormones plummeting.. sigghh

 

Ah well. I guess once this is all over I can deal with weight issues. I'd sure prefer not to get fat in the mean time though damn it 

[[...]]

ok so 1 week ago I was taking almost double my usual slee aids to sleep and wondering whether I need to slow down my taper

then my period ends... and I slept last night without a single sleep aid and I'm fine on the w/d front

 

Grr hormones.. If I was like this all the time I could move through this taper quicker.

 

I saw the Dr who specialised in hormones.

She has organised a blood test for Day 21 of cycle for me.

 

She said that what I was experiencing - everything going cooky a week before period - is not because my prog is high (cause that is the high time of the month). If you get to that time of your month and your prog isn't high then you have the low hormones in general that you have during period too.

 

So we'll see. I'm wary of trying prog though. If I can keep it to just that time of the month I'll be ok. But I don't to become an addict. With estrogen I can now just use it at that time of the month and then drop it. Although it did take a month of building up to get to there, and quitting exercise.

 

I'll have to find some exercise that don't seem to send my hormones plummeting.. sigghh

 

Ah well. I guess once this is all over I can deal with weight issues. I'd sure prefer not to get fat in the mean time though damn it 

 

Smiffy if any of us ever figure out this hormone mystery we could become millionaires!  I am in the middle of experimenting with my hrt and every time I think I get it figured out, something else happens.  I have one more thing to try and then I give up and back to the doctor for more tests.  Sigh...............

[[Sm...]]

It is just such a stoopid moving target Lizzy!

Lizzy hang in there. At least it shouldn't be quite as annoying when you are healed/off benzos.

I never had this level of sensitivity to hormones before benzo w/d.

[Guest [in...]]

just wanted let you all know Im in hormonal upheaval too. I just seem to want to not deal with it, to ignore it. the benzo  crap is hard enough, then we have this hormonal stuff on top, ugh. Im seeing an internal medicine dr in may, and she will also be doing my pap/pelvic/breast a couple of weeks after my complete physical. So I guess I will have to confront this hormonal thing. Im 50, so staring down the barrel at menopause. Yet Im still having normal periods every month, don't miss a beat.

[[Di...]]

You could be like me Ingrid. I went swimmingly along, all through my 40s, with neary a thought to menopause. My periods did get a little bit irregular, but nothing too unusual. Then BAM - the Big M hit just about my 51st birthday. Of course that doesn't mean it will happen to you. You could be someone who won't experience anything much at all. The majority of my older female friends all gave me blank looks when I started complaining about my symptoms. They are claimed they had no problems at all.

[[Ra...]]

You could be like me Ingrid. I went swimmingly along, all through my 40s, with neary a thought to menopause. My periods did get a little bit irregular, but nothing too unusual. Then BAM - the Big M hit just about my 51st birthday. Of course that doesn't mean it will happen to you. You could be someone who won't experience anything much at all. The majority of my older female friends all gave me blank looks when I started complaining about my symptoms. They are claimed they had no problems at all.

Same think happened to me, no problems at, just a few irregular period when I hit 50, and when 'WHAM'! Hot flashes, adrenalines surges, anxiety awful, and then toss in some benzo w/d and let the games begin

 

[[Sm...]]

argggg at least I wont be in benzo w/d when the big M hits. It would be like my stupid monthly drops 24/7.. blag

[[Sm...]]

Just a quick whinge to fellow girlfriends: I don't think male taperers know how good they've got it without having to deal with hormones. Exercise and supps are all more complicated for us because of this balance... lame

[[Di...]]

I wonder if the reason we seem to have more women on BB (I have no idea of the statistics, but there always seems to be more women) is because of our hormonal situation. I'm certainly not minimizing the problems that our brothers on BB experience, because I know some have a very hard time of it, but maybe men in general cope better because their overall physiology is more stable?

 

Anyway, just a theory on this fine and sunny Saturday afternoon. It's a shame for those up north battling Cyclone Ita. Why do I always think of Cold Chisel when they mention Ita. ("Shouting Ita's on TV".... Sorry only Aussies are probably going to get that one..lol..).