anyone gone off ERT cold turkey and been happy? New here!

Hi-

After much discussion with my dr. I am going off ERT cold turkey. I just can't stand the side effects anymore and i could never get the dose right.

I have been on .05 vivelle dot and i'm expecting a few week sof intense hot flashes and then perhaps some relief.

My body doesn't need a lot of estrogen, it needs to be constant, not fluctuating. With the ert i had fluctuations b/c every little thing made it work differently. I had swollen belly constantly, tender breasts, leg pain and general fatigue, endo pain.

Are the effects of no ERT really worse than what i'm experiencing now?

Thank ladies!!!!

LSH 2006
BSO January 2008
endo; adeno; adhesions;
36 years young

Hi, there! You'll find many different answers to your question.

I'm 51, have been on/off everything there is, finally bit the bullet last week and got off of everything again. exactly a week now.

Right now, I feel OK. I did start SAM-e, more for the winter blues than ERT changes, but it may be helping anyway. I know I'm sleeping better than I have in year, mostly becuase I"m sleeping every night consistently...again, not sure if it's the SAM-e or what.

A week from now, I may change my mind. ERT causes me to swell up and I can't stand the ups and down of it..yes I tried Femring...but it also makes me feel very vital and alive.

So, we'll see where I go from here...just wanted to let you know I understand how you feel on all fronts and unfortuantely you won't know until you do it how you'll feel.

I have been off/on hrt several times since '03 and the only thing I get is some fluid retention and maybe one warm flush a day with it with being on the patch. I try to stay on the lowest dose that will help my symptoms stay at bay. Hot flashes are at the top of the list, sleep, moods, and dryness.

I think it is hard to say how bad your symptoms will be , as you will just have to wait and see how you do. I found it took 2 months to see all the symptoms come back fully.

Hopefully, you will not have anything worse than you have now.

Hang in there

s

I have been off ert for a while too. I had tried it a few times and I get some side effects that are bad for me.

My doctor has prescribed an anti depressant to help with my hot flashes and mood swings. The one thing I can say is that it works for me.

I also used the hot flash cocktail which is in the hormone area at the top of this page.

I do also use alittle natural progesterone and natural estriol creme. (all of which my doctor knows about)

The hardest thing is finding what works best for you, what works best for one of us may not work best for someone else.

Yes, I think that is probably the trade off. Do you want to do ERT or anti-d's? Or at least, that's the way it seems.

I have been off a week and seemed to be doing great, but late yesterday afternoon I got upset while I was at work (not about work though) and culdn't even control myself. I started weeping and then did so again with two shows last night. So in a panic, I took more ERT again.

I do not like the side effects of either.

Thank you ladies for writing to me.

I have been on an anti-anxiety med for quite a long time due to the hot flashes and insomnia i've had when my endo got really bad. By bumping up the dose just a little (with approval from my doc.), i can totally live with the hot flashes, at least for now.

I don't really care how many hot flashes i get a day just so long as i can sleep 7 hours at night and feel refreshed. So far my anti-anxiety med seems to help with that and I virtually have no side effects from it at all.

My doc. kept telling me that i had to be on ERT for my age b/c it helps prevent osteoporosis and possibly heart disease. Honestly, i'd rather be required to work out 5 times a week and take supplements than to deal with the ups and downs of ERT.

I do use vagifem b/c i literally chafe if i don't but that is not supposed to increase blood estrogen levels.

I'm glad this board has a string for people who have chose to not use ERT b/c I felt like I didn't have anyone to talk to about this.

Oh, and 6 and counting: The "upset" could be from the adjustment your body is making. I've read it takes a while to level off after quitting ERT.

I am going to try to use all my will power to not put a patch back on b/c the side effects are so bad that they make me more depressed.

Thanks again

36 yr old
endo; adeno; adhesions
LSH 2006
BSO 2008, jan

thanks, tfig. You're probably right about that. I panicked because I was at work and couldn't seem to stifle the teariness. One thing I do realize is I need to stop carrying this stuff around in my purse!

i know what you mean, though. a few weeks i had a bad day and i was on the verge of crying. i went into the bathroom and started crying a little and then i was able to snap myself out of it. And i was ON ERT.......

i think that once i get through the process of the hot flashes and other symptoms, once my body has depleted the little estrogen it has, that maybe the hot flashes will be less and i will be more stable in my moods and the ups and downs. i know a lot of women in my family say they feel better after menopause, if you can believe that...

Yes, I can believe it! I think once I get past the initial phase then I will feel better. I just have to get through that first.

I don't htink I could have done this at first because my body was used to having all those hormones running around in them, but I think now I can do it and it will be OK for me in the end.

I also wanted to say that for me, I think trying to get off hormones in winter might not be as good an idea. I already have suffered with mild SAD and I think I may need to get on anti-d's if I'm going off the estrogen because it would just affect serotonin levels even more than usual.