Am I putting myself at.. HELP!!

Risk of endo. again which we think I have or clots, breast cancer etc. by using such a high dose of estrogen? I use 1mg+0.075 of the vivelledot. I know they said that they do want to keep me on this high of a dose for long, so they gave me 6wks. worth of the 0.075 patch. It has worked for me on this level, but I wonder when too much is too much? My Dr. was obviously confident that he got all of my endo. when he did the LAVH in July, but we are now trying to figure out if the endo. has grown back because I have cramps all the time and my left side hurts badly, especially with sex and going to the bathroom. He is making me go to the urologist to rule out bladder problems. If it is not, then he wants to take me completly off of HRT and see what happens. This scares me terribly, because when I first had the surgery and my body was adjusting to my patch, I had awful moodswings, anger and depression. I am only 28 and need estrogen!! BUT I am also scared that since I have used estrogen since the day of surgery, it has caused my endo. to regrow. I know I am facing another surgery, but what will I do for hormones after? I can't have surgery every few months because of the endo. keep coming back, but yet I need HRT!!! Angel

Hi Angel Given the endo history and your symptoms, has your DR suggested trying to add in a little progesterone, either oral (prometrium or compounded) or cream (OTC or compounded)? The progesterone may oppose the action of the estrogen in terms of fueling the regrowth of endo. It might be worth a try to see if that gets rid of your symptoms before deciding to abandon your estrogen altogether.

Also... just my ... if you must stop your estrogen, it's a lot kinder and gentler to you (and those around you! ) to wean yourself down gradually rather than just stopping it outright.

s,
-Linda