Anyone On Compound HRT Cream?

I am curious to know if anyone is using a compound HRT cream (more specifically, one containing estrogen & progesterone). If so....how well is it working? I am nearly 5 weeks post op and have come to the point of having menopause symptoms that I am not certain I can handle (night sweats, mood swings, depression). So, I went to my gyn and she prescribed a compound cream:
Bi-est .625/estrogen 10mg
As I understand, I put 1/2 gram on my wrist in the morning and at night. I have not started this yet and still am a little unsure about this!
Any insight would be truly appreciated!

Hi Lisa!

I used to use compounded Bi-est cream and compounded progesterone. The two were separate prescriptions which was nice so I could tweak the dose if necessary of one or the other.

I used the creams for probably a year with mixed results. I had a hard time getting and staying balanced. To shorten a very long story, I opted to quit the creams and instead am now using Vivelle Dot 0.1 for my estrogen and a 1% compounded testosterone cream. I recently had my annual checkup and asked for a prescription for compounded progesterone which my doctor was willing to write. I'll be getting that filled in the next few days and plan to use it sparingly. What I figured out from the last time I used it was that it was too much for me and caused me to have symptoms of not enough estrogen.

The only way to find out if the combination prescribed for you is going to work is to try it. It's largely a trial and error process and what works for one of us isn't necessarily going to work for you. It may take some time and tweaking to find the right dose but once you do you'll probably agree it was all worth it.

Let us know how you do, okay?

Hi roz5
I also use compounded creams for my hormones. When I first started using the creams I had Bi-est, progesterone and testosterone all mixed in one cream. I had a hard time adjusting one hormone without upsetting the other two hormones so I requested to have them all separate. I love the creams because I still find days when I need to use more or less and it is very easy to adjust them. It does require alot more work to use them verses a patch or pill, but it has worked very well for me.

I am somewhat confused about your prescription. "Bi-est .625/estrogen 10mg"

This does not indicate if there is progesterone in it and the 10 mg of estrogen is an extremely high dose.

I use mine morning and night and I had to experiement with different places to rub the cream. Here is a link to the menopause chekpoint which has some information about compounded hormones and the best place to apply them.checkpoint...click here

I am reading on the message boards that many women are opting to try the compounded hormones but they have a hard time finding a doctor who has knowledge about prescribing them. Your doctor sounds as if they are up to date on prescribing them.

I hope this works well for you. Please remember to be patient. It may take some time before you will see the full benefits of starting hormone therapy.

OOPS!!! My prescription is Bi-Est .625/PROGESTERONE 10mg

I can't figure out how to edit my original post!
Thanks so much for your replies! And troubled tabby, thank you for that reassurance in saying that it sounds like my doctor is up to date on prescribing the hormones. I seemed to think that she is....but wasn't sure once I started seeing that I was in the minority with compound HRT cream as compared to patches & pills. My dr. did mention that she had just been to a conference on HRT.....unfortunately, sometimes she talks a bit "over my head" and I can't quite understand the info or terminology (information overload!). Thanks again!

Lisa,
I use compounded hormone creams. Mine are mixed separately. I use a 2.5mg bi-est cream and a 5% progesterone cream. Before the creams, I had tried pills, than troches. Neither worked out very well for me. For me, the creams were my ticket out of the jungle.

Do keep in mind that you are still VERY early post op. It would not be unusual to still have some symptoms even while taking hrt. Do give it some time.