vivelle dot;broken bone; and frustrations

help. i need advice. I had my surgery a little over a year ago (3/7/03)--uterus and ovaries and appendix removed due to severe endo. I have been struggling with HRT from the beginning. I am 41 and pretty active. I normaly work out about 6 days a week on the treadmill (walking only--2 to 3 miles) and usually about 4 days a week with weights. I finally got back to pre-surgery weight in Feb--yeah!! Over the last year i have been on a variety of methods and have ended up on Vivelle dot and prometrium, but still suffered from bad night sweats and the occasional heart palpitation and recurring yeast infections. The first week of Feb, after being inspired by some posts, I upped my vivelle dosage from .1 to .15 by wearing 1 1/2 patches. I immediately felt fabulous (although some of that might have been due to the fact that we were on vacation as well). My only problem was a little bit of gum soreness and bleeding but that went away and for the first time since surgey i went over 2 weeks without a night sweat--yeah!!! Then I fell and fractured my foot. It's been almost four weeks and although i am still taking the same (.15 vivelle and 100 mg prometrioum) i have been having really bad night sweats again along with the occasional heart palp. Could this have something to do with the healing process or because i have been sitting on my butt for a month or am i just destined to be miserable? I haven't talked with my doc because i changed my dosage on my own. I was hoping that i could call and say--see i feel great let's change my prescription. Now i"m just confused and frustrated. Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated. I feel like i'm never going to feel OK again!!

It's too late and I don't know if it would have effected your current fracture, but the minute my dr. put me on HRT (Vivelle Dot .1) she also told me to start taking 1500 mg (I think that's right - 3 Viactiv chews) of calcium. You might ask your doctor about that when you are getting everything else straightened out. Best wishes on quick healing!

Funny --or not--depending on your sense of humor, I am taking 1200mg of calcium per day plus i'm taking Actinol once a week as well. Ironically, i was running upstairs to get my calcium pill when i fell-haha.
I'm not surprised i broke my bone--it was a hard fall and i landed right on top on my foot. I'm just really curious as to whether its healing could be affecting my estrogen use/need/ absorbtion..... Or whether i am destined to continuously need more and more estrogen until i explode!
Tina

Hi Beana: Why are you taking prometrium if your uterus is gone? I'm just curious as to why you chose prometrium or why your doctor recommended it. I did hear that for some women it helps them sleep and my doctor gave me some samples, but it did nothing. Melatonin was what worked for me (doctor recommendation). I too had a TAH in June 2003 and have gone through the trials and tribulations of trying to find what level vivelle.dot I should be on. First it was .005, then .075, then .1, and now I am back down to .075 which seems to be the best for me. I never had a night sweat or anything like that before or after my hysterectomy, but the vaginal dryness/soreness issue. Vivelle delivers a pretty low dose of natural estrogen and my doctor told me it's very common not to get relief to that area because of the low level.

Let me know how you progress through all this. Patti

Considering your bone fracture----have you had a Dexa Scan (bone scan) since your hyst?? We can experience a lot of bone loss the first year post-hyst/surgical menopause, and I believe it's very important to have a scan done so you know where you are as far as risk of osteoporosis, and future preventative measures.

In addition to taking Calcium, it's very important to also take 400 -800 IU Vitamin D daily---you can typically find this amount in a good multi-vitamin.

Sending 's

Thanks for the input. First to answer questions--- I am on prometrium for a couple of reasons. First because severe endo was the reason for this whole mess, my doc wants me on some progesterine to counter the estrogen. I am totally on board with that reason, plus I feel that progesterine has an important purpose--otherwise my body would not have made it naturally. I just can not seem to come to a balance that works for me. Every time i think i have, then it all starts back up again!
As for the bone thing-- i have had a scan and i have had some loss, so i am taking Actinol for that. And i take Calcium, Vitamen D and magnesium supplements as well. My break is healing nicely (so the doc says) and after three weeks he is letting me put some weight on --in a cast still though.
I am just so frustrated with the HRT -- i'm beginning to think i will never feel like myself again. MY DH is a doll, but boy o boy i wish he didn't have to be so patient with the seemingly endless post surgery complications.
thanks again, and if anybody has any idea as to whether the bone healing (or the lengthy sitting on my butt) could be affecting by HRT needs let me know!
tina (beana)