What is the best hormone?

I am getting ready to get back on hormones after having been off of them for over 2 years. At first I was doing great. I felt better than I had in years and was glad that I was off of them but for the past year I have been getting worse. A general fog, major loss of sexual desire, migraines and horrible moodyness. When I was on hormones I was taking Estratest because of the sexual problem. My question now is what is the best hormone to get on? What has worked for you? I'm desperate for some relief, know my poor husband would like for us to get home help.

Hi sweetfolly Well, HRT isn't one size fits all, so what's 'best' for me might not work for you at all. However, there are some basic principles that seem to work well for most women here. First, start out with just estrogen, and get as balanced as you can on just that first before adding other hormones. Second, keep a journal of your symptoms. Write down the date, which vitamins, supplements, HRT's and other meds you're on, and how you are feeling. And, finally, start low and adjust upwards: it's easier to add more of a particular hormone than it is to get rid of symptoms of too much.

Different women do best on different forms of HRT, but a good basic one that many women like is the Vivelle dot estradiol patch. The .05mg/day patch (medium dose) is a good average starting place, and you can always move up to .075 and 0.1mg/day. Some women feel better using a little progesterone; some don't. And, if you get fairly balanced on estrogen but your libido is still MIA, you might want to try adding a compounded testosterone cream to your estrogen rather than switching to a combination product like Estratest.

Finally, expect that even on HRT, you may still have vaginal dryness. The best way to treat this imho is with a local estrogen solution -- cream, Vagifem pills or Estring are all great options.

Take it slow... change or introduce only one hormone at a time, and give each change plenty of time to work (2-3 weeks at least).

I hope this helps!
s,
-Linda

Sweetfolly,
Linda is a wise wise person. I did what she is talking about. The estrogen first-with the Vivelle Dot at .1, then after several months post op, added testosterone cream. However the doc I found closer to home only wanted me to be on a .03% cream and it didn't do a thing for response or libido. The first doc closer to home didn't want me on anything HRT-told me to go on a cruise.

I went back to my surgery doc then, and he had me go off the patch and try the oral pill with estrogen and testosterone- mine was syntest DS. Well, it has less estrogen and within two weeks I was miserable-not sleeping, hot flashes, brain fog. etc.

Then I went back and the doc said to go back on the Vivelle, and he gave me a higher dose of testosterone cream-2%. I did that for 4 weeks, and my ability to enjoy sex improved, but my libido didn't.

So back again, then he added the Syntest at half strength on top of the Vivelle, after talking with me about other symptoms. I was still having some hot flushes so he felt the extra estrogen would be OK for now.

My libido is now officially back, I have more energy and feel really good for the first time since surgery.

However I am concerned this might be too much estrogen and oral testosterone, at least for the long term. The doc said to just stay stable for 6 months, then we can fiddle with it if we want. I figure I can always decrease the estrogen in the patch if needed.

To make a long story short-I kept going back over and over until it got better. None of them are compounded-the test. cream is in aquapho-pretty greasy but the insurance is paying for it. My regular pharmacy mixed it up too.